Alpha Dog (Full Screen Edition) | 
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Director: Nick Cassavetes
Actors: Bruce Willis, Matthew Barry, Emile Hirsch, Fernando Vargas (ii), Vincent Kartheiser
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $1.79
You Save: $13.19 (88%)
New (40) Used (54) from $1.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 19081
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Published)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 118
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 61032506
UPC: 025193250629
EAN: 0025193250629
ASIN: B000NO39FQ
Theatrical Release Date: January 12, 2007
Release Date: May 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: DVD only!!! / DVD in plain paper sleeve Shipped in protective mailer / Does not include artwork-inserts / DVD is in very good condition *** DVD has no artwork!!! *** ---SHELF Y -----
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Amazon.com
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
Product Description
When a group of suburban teens imitating the "thug life" ends up committing an impulsive crime circumstances spiral out of control toward a shocking conclusion in this gritty and uncompromising film.Runtime: 118 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: R UPC: 025193250629 Manufacturer No: 61032506
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 Outstanding cautionary tale, a message to the madness August 1, 2008
"Alpha Dog" presents us with the image of a group of teens, and we should rightfully ask, is this the director's, is this the writers' depiction of post-modern American youth, the portrait of a generation, or is it merely the documentary presentation of one group of teens in California circa 1999? If it is the former, then they are making a bold and broad statement indeed. Because we have not seen a picture of youth so enormously depraved and rudderless since the young ruffians of "A Clockwork Orange". In the past we saw crime arise in the American landscape due to the effects of stultifying poverty, and film has done an admirable job of chronicling this cause and effect. In "Alpha Dog" the equation is altogether different. These kids have too much money. What they suffer from, what they have not the least faintest idea of--is the influence of a moral example in their lives. These parents, with the exception of young Zach's mother, are enveloped in careless lives of hedonistic selfishness, and they transmit this pattern of living with devastating effect to their offspring, with the result that their children's characters become the likenesses of amoral wasteland which they observe so clearly in their elders. The father treats the teenage son like a drinking buddy, a partner in debauchery, then upbraids him in the morning for not paying rent. Kids do not feel loved, so they seek to fill the emptiness with narcotics; they seek the twisted empowerment of a thug's life. Cassavetes does very well in capturing the chain of cause and effect from parent to child and the ramifications of generational neglect and parental abdication. That this is so egregiously obvious is in the depiction of the teens' socializing--there is no attempt(save the exception of Zack), as there usually is with teenagers, to cover up or conduct their excursions into vice on the sly, for fear of being discovered and punished. Rather the teens immerse themselves in debauchery, in broad daylight, not even reveling in it, as simply just going about their business, with not even the slightest notion that they might in fact be chastised or taken into account for their behavior. Again one wonders whether this is an accurate estimate of the lives of a majoirty of American teens, or simply a case study in itself.
All in all, despite its flaws, this is a very good film, heartrending and sad, one almost totally suffused through and through with tragedy and evil. To my mind there were some marvelous performances. One earlier reviewer, whose piece I respect very much as a fine analysis of the film, characterized Ben Foster's performance as one of the film's chief liabilities. I feel it is one of the film's greatest strengths--a powerful performance of equal parts desperation, rage and intensity, it cemented the whole film for me. From his growing body of work we can see that Foster is one of our finest up-and-coming young actors. Is he over the top in his reading of Jake? As the earlier reviewer put it, Jake is, after all, a psycho--but then why wouldn't his character, mentally warped and then his neuroses inflamed so much the more by narcotics, be over the top in some sense? Moreover, his performance for me exuded a magnitude of intensity, rather than gratuitous bravado, as an over-the-top character might. Moreover, as the earlier reviewer pointed out, the film's emphasis was upon the ramifications of parental irresponsibility, rather than a celebration of teen hedonism and violence--and indeed, it is this irresponsibility which is the truest culprit of the whole film. The shocking irony was that the only child of the only parent who was really interested in being a parent, perhaps too much so, was murdered. How terrible--and Justin Timberlake will in fact attract teens to this film, with the question presenting itself, will they understand it to be a study of the consequences of parental irresponsibility, or will they merely take the film's gratuitous and repugnant depiction of teen debauchery as the standard definition of adolescence? Who can tell, other than to say our prayers go out to the mother of this poor boy who was killed. The carelessness and selfishness of those who perhaps never should have been parents clearly bears unspeakably tragic consequences for all of society and most ironically, as "Alpha Dog" reveals, for those parents who try conscientiously to protect their children from the senseless evil of kids whose aimless and neglected lives have given them no moral compass to live by. An excellent cautionary tale to all parents, ever more powerful because it is true, but aside from its real artistic merits the film will serve a benevolent purpose if it is contemplated seriously by those parents whose conduct could benefit most from its message.
 Disturbing but a great true story July 28, 2008
The fact that the story is true makes the movie more disturbing. Actually a great film in HD. The visuals are great and the story and acting is very good. The lead character is a wimpy coward and Timberlake plays it well.
The Combo HD DVD is a great deal and a good addition to your HD collection.
Teenage wasteland--oh wait, it's sunny California! July 13, 2008
"Alpha Dog" is a perfect companion piece to the equally harrowing "Bully". Both films chronicle sordid tales of amoral teenagers living vacant lives filled with the artificial pleasures of sex, drugs, and holding power over one's peers. In "Bully", the casualty of wanton violence was a ruthless, sadistic punk. In "Alpha Dog", the victim is a kid who doesn't come to appreciate his family until he's immersed in a night of boozing, sucking on a bong, and engaging in casual sex in a swimming pool. Played by Anton Yelchin, he's a nice kid, torn between the overbearing yet moral discipline of his parents, and the neurotic, jittery narcotic overload of his older brother. Much of the film focuses on the kid being held "hostage", and the friendship he forms with Justin Timberlake's character. Justin treats him with respect, and the kid responds by trusting him with his life. He even allows Justin to bind his wrists and mouth with electrical tape, accepting this dubious action like a Judas kiss.
The film is energetic, well-paced, and disturbing. It also has smatters of perverse humor. I think the ending speech by Anton Yelchin sums it up perfectly. He says that he's sick of leading a life where he isn't good at anything. He comes to appreciate his mom, who's "the bomb". He's at a turning point, and can choose the right path. Unfortunately, fate will decide otherwise. The parents of most of the film's teenagers are reprehensible; it's obvious the director's message is that screwed-up parenting leads to messed-up kids. Johnny Truelove's dad (played by Bruce Willis) only chastises his son when he does something to threaten the family drug-dealing business. Timberlake's character's father is a drunken womanizer who pulls it together in the morning to go to his suit-and-tie job. His son's work for the day involves pruning the abundant marijuana plants in the backyard. "He has a garden full of vegetables and spices to eat healthy, but drinks liquor every night and fills his veins with drugs. What a hypocrite".
For teenagers to party like this and soak their minds in a cocaine fog means that their parents are not involved. The hard-earned pleasures of sports, playing a musical instrument, or mastering an art are replaced by the glowing rapture of fried brain cells. This leads to poor judgment that can end in murder. Or maybe these kids were just never taught the intrinsic value of human life. That involves parental guidance as well.
What would you expect? It's Cassavetes! June 21, 2008
When a man like Nick Cassavetes, the director of "She's So Lovely" and "The Notebook", stumbles upon the story of Jesse James, the youngest person ever to be featured on America's Most Wanted, you can expect a riveting vision. It's even better when someone gets the guts to tell that vision. In this case, Cassavetes delivers his baby. I saw this film and had moderate expectations. I was stunned. The movie was phenominal. Not only did Mathew Barry and Nancy Green-Keyes bring in a great cast but Nick Cassavetes brought them to perfection. Everyone from Bruce Willis to Justin Timberlake delivered breakthrough performance. Ben Foster. Emile Hirsch. Everyone. Spectacular. This film was as close to flawless as many films get. Everything from Aaron Zigman's score to Dominic Watkins' production design was marvelous. And if you think the end was harsh, it even adds more drama to your experience and what you thought of the film and helped reveal to you that not everything is Hollywood-perfect. The story is about a group of teens in Southern California who are doing drugs, sex, and having parties all the time. A double-crossing leads to a kidnap that eventually spirals out of control and so the drama begins. On to the extras. Much to my gloom, there is no commentary by Cassavetes or any cast or crew member. Instead, there is an okay making-of-featurette and a witness timeline. It's rather dissapointing since it is not likely that there will bbe a special edition release.
Boys, drugs and reckless murder May 19, 2008
Movie about middle class boys living in California and indulging all sorts of drugs, alcohol and girls with endless partying and no real purpose in their lives. These boys are part of the clique that is led by their drug dealing friend who is master of manipulation and recklessness. As one of the addicts defaults on his payment for drugs, the war starts between the drug dealer and the obnoxious thug. No one is spared in this war and as it escalates, it starts to include even the family members. Doped, craving for social acceptance and need to prove their manhood, group of young boys abducts a brother of the non-paying low life addict in an effort to get the debt collected. While in their minds this is an innocent game of control and their abducted kid has seeming fun in his captivity, these boys slowly realize that there cannot be good end to their actions. Before long, young man is killed and everyone's destiny starts to unrevel. It is a film about excess, spoilt little suburban kids and their rebellion against nothing in particular, shallowness of the young generation whose parents are too busy making money or indulging themselves to pay attention to their own children and their own destiny. We learn that there has to be moderation in everything, including parental love. Too much love can smother and cause kids to desire to be away from too much attention and adoration that is embarrasing and can inevitably lead only to tragedy. Too much of a sheltered life, just as too much neglect can have equally tragic consequences. The only difference is that the sheltered ends up being a victim while perpetrator is the violator.
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