Alpha Dog (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]

Alpha Dog (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]
by Nick Cassavetes

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Bruce Willis, Emile Hirsch, Fernando Vargas (II), Matthew Barry, Vincent Kartheiser
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Brand: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-05-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios

Movie Reviews of Alpha Dog (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]

Movie Review: Teenage wasteland--oh wait, it's sunny California!
Summary: 4 Stars

"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.

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All Alpha Dog (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD] Movie Reviews

Summary of Alpha Dog (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]

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

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 HD Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: R UPC: 025193268129 Manufacturer No: 61032681

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