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List Price: $5.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 11731
Released: May 1, 2007 |
| Our Price: $2.75 |
| Used Price: $0.47 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
They grew up together in the suburbs of LA, living their own version of the American dream, with every day a blur of partying and looking for the next thrill. Johnny (Emile Hirsch, Lords of Dogtown) is the leader in their sordid world of drugs, greed, power and privilege. But when he is double-crossed by another dealer, things quickly begin to spiral out of control, and an impulsive kidnapping leads to a shocking conclusion. Justin Timberlake (Edison), Sharon Stone (Bobby) and Bruce Willis (Lucky Number Slevin) co-star in this powerful and controversial film.
Description of Alpha Dog (Widescreen Edition):
With harrowing intensity, Alpha Dog dramatizes one of the most tragically notorious murders in recent history. Ripped from the headlines, writer-director Nick Cassavetes' flawed but riveting crime drama (a polar opposite to his previous film, the romantic hit The Notebook) is based on the real-life case of Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer in California's San Gabriel Valley who, in 2000, became one of the youngest men to appear on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Names and details have been changed, but the criminal circumstances remain the same: With family links to organized crime, Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) is on the warpath against Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), a sleazebag addict who owes him money. Fate intervenes when Johnny and his stoner pals including Frankie (Justin Timberlake) encounter Jake's 15-year-old half-brother Zack (Anton Yelchin) and hold him as collateral until Jake pays his debts. What begins as a casual, seemingly harmless situation escalates into a crisis of capital crime, as Alpha Dog employs split-screen, docudrama, and mock-documentary interviews to chronicle a tragic tailspin of reckless events and lawless behavior.
Cassavetes himself became part of the real-life drama when prosecutors (hoping to locate then-fugitive Jesse James Hollywood, who was captured in 2005) gave him legally controversial access to their case files. Alpha Dog clearly benefits from this inside information, and while the film's grueling depiction of underage squalor (including rampant drug and alcohol abuse) is inevitably off-putting and at least partially exploitative, there's no denying that Cassavetes has worked wonders with a well-chosen ensemble cast including Timberlake, who contrasts his music-industry stardom with a convincing performance as a likable, not-too-bright party animal who quickly gets in over his head. The film is ultimately compromised by Cassavetes' ambitious attempt to cover too much dramatic territory, but like his father John before him, he demonstrates a remarkable skill with actors (including Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis, and Harry Dean Stanton in supporting roles), and Alpha Dog is full of powerful, dangerous moments that aren't easily forgotten. --Jeff Shannon
Alpha Dog (Widescreen Edition) Reviews:
bucnh of punks thinking they're gangsters 
2009-11-28 - What a disappointment. Why the hell would Bruce Willis have his name associated with this?
Pretty close to reality 
2009-11-10 - Drinking and drugging are the only way of life for the affluent teens and 20s in this almost true-crime drama. The big surprise is the high quality of Justin Timberlake's acting here as the accomplice to a kidnapping that goes all wrong. Great soundtrack. The 'big stars,' i.e. Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone play parents, but they don't have a lot to do. The kids are the most riveting here, and the limited vocabulary they employ is very close to real. This is highly watchable.
Disturbing. 
2009-10-12 - This film has great insight into how such a crime could take place. Society has laid the groudwork (Unpunished Incivility, Rewarded Selfeshness, Celebrity worship) and then wonders "how could this happen".
Nice camera work. Good acting.
my daughter loved it!
2009-10-09 - It was for my daughter for her birthday, everything arrived in a timely manor, in good condition as promised..
A movie I had missed in theatres
2009-09-30 - I saw this on cable and had never heard of it before. The title was strange, to say the least. but, it is based on a true story. So sad that any gang can murder other young persons. A very well told story and a very unhappy ending. I have watched it several times. I also bought it on Amazon, the place where the price is always right. Well, most of the time the price is right. I bought the regular DVD as well as the HD version. I also bought it as a gift to a few friends.
