I just got back from Alpha Dog. It was quite good, actually. At least I thought so. The movie is about the true story of Jesse James Hollywood (known as “Sonny Truelove” in the film,) a California drug peddler who had the younger brother of one his clients kidnapped after the latter failed to pay a huge debt. Interestingly enough, I had read of this case on the America’s Most Wanted website years ago, and had not the slightest suspicion that a film based on the incident was in the making.
Alpha Dog has been spoken poorly of by a great deal of people (who have not seen it) who insist that because Justin Timberlake is in it, it must be bad. But to tell the truth, Timberlake is not bad at all in the movie. He carries his role very well. I mean, sure, there are many other actors who could have pulled it off as well. It wasn’t a particularly deep or unique character. But Timberlake does a good job, he has the right look for the character, and not once did I think to myself “this guy’s acting is bad.”
A more memorable character is Jake Mazursky, a drug-crazed, psychopathic Nazi skinhead who is also apparently Jewish. He is portrayed by Ben Foster, who I seriously think is deserving of some kind of award for the performance, which was reminiscent of Crispin Glover’s character “Lane” in River’s Edge, if he were an insane, violent savage. This guy totally steals his scenes, making the terrifying character come alive - and just like Lane in River’s Edge there is a lot of humor in the manic performance also.
Mazursky is the client of Truelove, played by Emile Hirsch, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jack Black minus 100 pounds. (In terms of his facial appearance, Jack Black is fairly good-looking, so this is a positive thing.) Hirsch’s performance recalls DiCaprio in The Beach - boyish and snide at the same time, and compensating for his youthful appearance by being a cold-hearted bastard. The character is viscerally unlikable, and Timberlake’s character is much more sympathetic.
“Elvis,” introduced at the beginning, is Truelove’s bitchboy, a loyal lapdog who it seems is in debt to the dealer and so has to be his servant until it is paid. He is obviously a disturbed guy, also embittered by being beaten down and humiliated, and this manifests itself in the movie’s final scenes. The movie cleverly makes you forget about this character as the other players dominate the story, and then brings him back for the shocking surprise at the end.
The younger brother of Mazursky (Markowitz in real life,) who is kidnapped, is portrayed by Anton Yelchin, who looks much like Ashton Holmes, the son from A History of Violence. Many have praised him for his acting in the film, but I for one was underwhelmed - I think it was slightly overdone to try to make him look weaker and more vulnerable.
The scene in which he is shot to death is quite jarring, due to the sinister and tragic build-up of his march up the cliff where he is killed, and the bright flash and loud noise of the gunshots. He is shot with a Tec-9 automatic pistol, which, at close range and execution-style, is somehow a lot scarier than a single shot from a handgun.
Has anyone else seen this movie? What did you think of it?