Alpha Dog (Widescreen Edition)
by Nick Cassavetes
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anton Yelchin, Bruce Willis, Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Matthew BarryDirector: Nick Cassavetes
Brand: NBC Universal
Writer: Nick Cassavetes
Producer: Andreas Grosch
Producer: Andreas Schmid
Producer: Avram 'Butch' Kaplan
Producer: Brad Jensen
Producer: Chuck Pacheco
Producer: Frank Peluso
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-05-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Alpha Dog (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Widescreen bargain but you'll have to squint a little!
Summary: 5 Stars
Has the present young generation grown up in a moral limbo? Has relativism seeped into everything? There seems to be a unstated credo in many (I won't indict all) teen circles; namely, cheating on tests is OK if everybody does it; leaving the scene of an accident is OK if you're busy; lying to authority is just fine if it makes one more comfortable --
All of this kind of behavior is well in evidence in the recent underappreciated Nick Cassavetes' film ALPHA DOG, in which anomic "nice kids from the suburbs" wind up conspiring and/or contributing to murder and for no good reasons, not even selfish ones.
If you can stand "M-F-ing" language as rank as Snoop Dogg on speed, ALPHA DOG is a really good movie filled with great performances by a huge cast including Sharon Stone, Harry Dean Stanton, Bruce Willis, Emile Hirsch and Justin Timberlake. People in their forties and fifties (us Boomers) are clearly shown as letting their kids run wild: in essence these elders-but-no-betters have fluffed their responsibilities in search of narcissistic horizons all their own.
Result? Justin Timberlake plays the title character, a charismatic but witless charmer who excels at playing a good-times party boy. Lacking inner confidence in his own personality or judgment, and extremely inept in acknowledging the ways of the world, Timberlake's character puts on a "gangsta" attitude, incl. the raunchy language . . . Smiling, cajoling, joking, and provoking are his metier. Yet he isn't quite as clever as he thinks he is. Nonetheless he remains the standard-bearer of "Alpha Dog" in a milieu without standards.
ALPHA DOG is based on a real case in Southern California that played out in the late Nineties and early part of this decade; this movie is fairly faithful to the real goings-on with liberty to fictionalize, telescope or rework: the classic "as based on" tale. True to life, the last several minutes of the film touch upon six or seven years of flights, trials, persecutions and imprisonment of so many young people portrayed in the movie.
This is quite a good film IMO and Nick Cassavetes has the best of both worlds: in terms of repertory and acting he has some of the best actors around and lets them grow (Sharon Stone is especially effective as a luxury-loving mom who doesn't know bupkus about her children); on the other hand he draws from the examples of documentary experts like Frederic Wiseman and Nick Cassavetes' own father John. If you are offended by the kind of movie in which "there are no good people" -- well, avoid this one. There are a couple of "good people" in the plot but they don't get listened to, and that's the point.
To me, ALPHA MALE draws a clear moral, not only about crime and punishment but, prior to that, about growing up absurd. I was reminded to some extent of Keanu Reeve's old breakout movie, RIVER'S EDGE, a social drama in which, essentially and in the absence of role models, kids have to mimic what they think is adult behavior. But I was not glad to find out that most of this sad saga's major "players" wound up in prison or worse. Justice was done, and I suppose had to be done, but I felt no sense of vindication. Just a sadness about wasted lives. Pardon me for sounding like an old you-know-what, but is the structure of our society visibly eroding?
About my only gripe is that the film is in widescreen and, ironically, that director Nick Cassavetes uses it so well -- perhaps too well for us still using the old four by three CRT televisions. The movie was filmed in Cinemascope with a 2.5 - to - one aspect ratio. Fortunately, this anamorphic technique works well for Cassavetes as he peoples his drama and follows them through mean streets, semi-public parties, prestigious villas and private bedrooms gone backroom with their verbal and situational torture. Cheers to him and his cinematographer. UN-fortunately, one rhetorical technique he uses doesn't jibe with us mere NTSC watchers: each scene opens by displaying the names of the characters in it and how many of them become "eyewitnesses" to the goings-on. These intro-to-scene titles last about three to five seconds and they are faint on a CRT! Look for them at the very bottom-left of the picture.
Nonetheless I do not recommend the fullscreen DVD, precisely because Nick Cassavetes works the stretchy canvas of anamorphic film so well. As of now (March 2008) the DVD of the widescreen is actually cheaper -- go for it, and IMHO you'll have gone for the better option. - a. s.
Summary of Alpha Dog (Widescreen Edition)
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. Starring: Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Shawn Hatosy, Anton Yelchin, Ben Foster, Christopher Marquette, Matt Barry, Lukas Haas, Alex Kingston, Harry Dean Stanton, Dominique Swain, David Thornton, Heather Wahlquist, Vincent Kartheiser, Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried Directed by: Nick CassavetesSimilar DVD Movies
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