Floated2 Alpha Dog tells an impulsive, thoughtless act. Based on the true story of the Jesse James Hollywood story, Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) and his cronies don't know what to do with their new charge: one moment they stuff him in the closet and duct tape his mouth, and the next, he and Truelove's de facto second-in-command Frankie (Justin Timberlake) are playing X-Box. Zack is unfazed — on one level, he's enjoying the adventure (in what must ultimately be Alpha Dog's saddest moment, he asserts that he sees it as "just another story to tell his grandkids") Anton Yelchin virtually runs away with the film. Director Nick Cassavetes throws Zack into an exaggerated, flamboyant universe, his brother Jake is unaware that he's taken hostage by a bunch of wannabe Tony Montanas. Yelchin is remarkable in the way he grounds Alpha Dog in reality. Certain scenes stand entirely alone. Zack's encounter with his parents on the stairs, the subtlety of their interaction, his fully believable and familiar frustration. There's nothing else like it in the movie. Late in the film, Yelchin is given a hugely difficult scene where Zack's fantasy abruptly becomes a nightmare, and he nails it, converting Zack's ordinariness from something faintly amusing to something powerful and terrifying. Justin Timberlake is also very impressive in this scene. This also works because of the extent to which Zack is the story's moral compass. For as long as he likes and trusts his new friends, the kidnapping really does seem like fun and games, and the tone of the film shifts along with his perceptions. From this perspective, his relationship with Frankie, while touching in its way, is the ultimate betrayal, and his desperate appeals to his "friend" in the scene I mentioned earlier are one part of Alpha Dog I can't seem to get out of my mind.The other half of the film, as you may have guessed, focuses on the misadventures of the kidnappers, and here Cassavetes runs into some problems. To his great credit, his screenplay takes some real stabs at complexity: though seeming every bit the amateur gangstas, Johnny Truelove and Co. openly mock a gangsta rap music video; despite the casual misogyny constantly bandied about, Truelove himself is portrayed early on, and somewhat bizarrely, as a staunch monogamist. Then there's the issue of the parents, who are either corrupt, debauched or clueless; Cassavetes seems to blame them for allowing this to happen, and that seems about right.In the end, though, it's not quite convincing. Truelove is simply vile, a coward and a liar. He's not allowed to function as a villain, and Emile Hirsch doesn't have much to work with. The film resists the inevitable conclusion that these guys are just losers, insisting on a view of their activities that's much more exotic than they merit, and at a certain point threatening to seem silly. Including a lot of coarse language and some frightening scenes of violence, Alpha Dog can give you a sense of disturbance once completed watching the film.

Robert Thompson (justbob1982) Version I saw: UK DVD releaseActors: 6/10Plot/script: 7/10Photography/visual style: 5/10Music/score: 5/10Overall: 6/10It's only by chance that I ever heard about this movie. I don't remember it getting much of a release back in 2006, and I am not surprised. It's not a bad movie, but not much better than that.After a slow start, the film has a few interesting things to say about the Californian youth culture, and paces nicely toward an end in which I have to admit I was engaged. Justin Timberlake (in the midst of his transformation from music star to acting star) stands out as one of the slackers/wannabe gangsters who kidnap a kid and then don't know what to do with him, and the young cast are ably supported by veterans Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton and Sharon Stone.It is interesting to see a film which only becomes interesting when the action *stops* rather than starts. On the whole though, I would only recommend seeking out this movie if you have nothing better to do.For my full review, see my independent film blog on Blogspot, Cinema Inferno: http://cinemainferno-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/alpha-dog-2006.html

JonnyGannett I rarely feel compelled to write reviews, but this is one I could not resist, I normally am to lazy to bother, but I had to give my opinion on this film. This movie is incredible. The director brings a film that sticks close to truth of the real life case that this Hollywood film is based off of. The acting is one of the most impressive things this movie did so well. And well normally I'd credit the writer above the director because they come up with the dialogue and tell us the story, this is based on a real life occurrence, so I'd expect a level of quality in the writing of such, and this is true here. Most people say that Justin Timberlake's performance is the most shocking and noteworthy, and he was very compelling and I think he does deserve credit for it. BUT, Ben Foster was incredible, where is his credit? He played not only such an aggressive man, but a drug addict. A complete junkie. His performance was not only terrifying, but saddening. Emili Hirsh was impressive too. I'm not denying that. His presence is essential through out the entire story. All of these people were young. In their early 20's. Johnny's 20, and Frankie's also 20. One of the things that really shows throughout, is most of them are hostel. They all call each other out with names, and fight. It's sad. It contributes to the outcome. Stupidity is one of the problems, and parental guidance was absent for most of these young people. This movie was not just cheap entertainment, although it does captivate you. It is well acted, well directed, and well handled. I find it irritating that it's only got 6.9 out of 10, and movies like : Pulp Fiction which has a 9 out of 10 rating, and is 4th on the top 250; while a great movie, completely fictional. But movies like this one get tossed under the rug and looked over. Don't miss this one. It's not really for younger audiences, cause most teenagers can't grasp such a complex plot without the only conclusion being these people are all stupid. I recommend this movie to anyone who is mature enough to hear the language or old enough. It's movies like this that should be at least nominated for awards, and yet it's not. Don't miss this one.

Bene Cumb Based on real events, this movie is somewhat hectic, too much attention is paid on orgiastic parties driven by drugs and alcohol. The scenes prior to the tragic event are rather superficial. As for the cast, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone are fine as usual (though their parts are rather small), but the real surprises to me were Ben Foster, Anton Yeltchin and Justin Timberlake, especially the latter, who is mostly soft and "dilatory" in his music, but gave a remarkably tough performance in the movie. Female characters did not differ much to me - most of them were just used and sometimes abused by those young males, who often called them bitches. However, it is strange that, in the U.S., for such a conduct (I mean this pseudo-kidnapping where the "victim" could freely move, party and had no hard feelings towards the involved) it is possible to get life sentence! But potential harsh penalty can provoke desperate measures...I assume the movie is meant to be a warning for hedonistic youngsters and as a hint that "all criminals get caught", but it is still watchable - but not a family movie.