Three years in the making, the story of Jesse James Hollywood is finally ready for the public.
After some needed re-editing due to a disappointing showing at Sundance and a few lawsuits and appeals by Jesse James himself, Alpha Dog hit theatres today. I first saw the trailers for it over a year ago and was already hooked. I tend to be a sucker for drug dealer/gangster movies and this was no different. Then after numerous roadblocks and revamping the trailers (that suddenly made Justin Timberlake the main attraction), I was able to satisfy my thirst.
Alpha Dog is the ‘fictional’ story of a gang of suburban drug dealers who find themselves too far over their head when they decide to venture in kidnapping. It’s considered fictional due to a lawsuit Hollywood filed claiming the film proves him guilty when a jury has yet to due so. Led by Johnny Truelove (based on Hollywood), a band of bored young men sell marijuana, collect tattoos, and try to emulate every rap video ever created. The girls love it and the money is rolling in, so what’s the problem? Well, when a fellow dealer comes up short on a payment, Johnny abducts his teenage brother as collateral until the debt is paid. For the next 72 hours, things become increasingly more unpredictable as Johnny and his gang realize they’re in way over their heads.
I know what everyone is waiting to hear. “How horrible was Justin Timberlake?” Honestly, he held his own really well. Unfortunately, his name overshadowed the movie all together. Most people going to see Alpha Dog are referring to it as the ‘Timberlake’ movie. Even though he does steal a lot of the scenes, you forget what’s going on because you’re so focused on his performance. If you’re not careful, you may overlook Ben Foster’s performance of Jake, the short-tempered drug addict, whose younger brother is abducted. Watching Timberlake too close may also cause you to miss Sharon Stone’s supporting role as the boy’s over-protective mother who loses control after the disappearance of her son. These performances, along with Bruce Willis (Sonny Truelove) and Emile Hirsch (Johnny Truelove), make this film a reason to make a trip to your local cinema.
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PatWms said
January 15 2007 @ 4:44 am
I orginally went to see this movie to see Justin Timberlake debut. I had no idea this was a true story until 20 minute into the show. It was organized like a true story was being told. I stopped watching Justin and started playing attention to the story. I whispered to my friend that this was either a dumb fictional movie or a good true story. I was happy to find out that this was a true story of some dumb wannbe gangsters. ‘Alpha Dog’ debut to early since this may intefere with Johnny Truelove current arrest and up coming trial. This movie must bring back a lot of pain to the families involved.
aaron said
January 15 2007 @ 7:39 am
After seeing this movie, I did some Goggling and found Alpha Dog was pretty true to the alleged events. Some things were created for the movie, but nothing major. I found the story very interesting.
Anger Management said
January 20 2007 @ 7:57 am
I originally didn’t want to see this movie. I knew it was Justin’s debut and kind of had the bias like a lot of people think like “how bad of an actor is he”? To tell you the truth, I LOVED THIS MOVIE! I think that the performances were really great statring with Emile Hirsch who played Johnny Truelove, Justin as Frankie, Ben Foster as Jake, and Anton Yelchin as the kidnapped Zack Mazursky. The film didn’t dissapoint, and sadly I think that Hollywood or at least the critics pay too much attention to such lame drama movies that I don’t even watch. What I mean is that, critics or judges of movie awards are too focused on one type of movie, which is drama. They turn a blind eye to many fantastic peformances, even sci-fi. I also loved the film for the fact that it was based here in California, and the places that it was filmed in were places that I am familiar with and have actually been to. I could relate more to the movie because it was something that I was familiar with rather than those goody-goody fictional upper-class Hollywood movies. The movie painted a more realistic rather than an artificial tone. The most unforgettable moment, and I just watched this last night, was when Zack realized that he was not going home but awaits a terrible fate. It was his begging to Frankie that I can’t get out of my head. I felt really, really terrible and I knew what was coming and kind of wished that the movie will take a happy ending. Unfortunately, we all know what happens, as this is based on a true story.
Overall, the peformances were brilliant and deserves some awards.
Sarah said
February 12 2007 @ 9:11 pm
i absolutly love this movie. it was the best movie that i have seen in a very long time. the acting was amazing, and the story line was great. the music also added a great effect. all around, it was a wonderful movie
Daniel said
February 16 2007 @ 3:24 pm
well, i liked the movie but didnt love it but i missed last 10 mins of move last part i saw was J.T. telling that girl he didnt know about the kid being killed, it was emotional when the kid was begging not to be killed i figured he wasnt gonna die because i didnt know the real story.. ill watch it again though
Abby said
December 11 2007 @ 5:57 am
Everytime I read from you guys, I loved the story, I think how sick it is we are entertained by the real death of a young boy. This is a good movie but a very sad reality. My heart went out at the end watching his real mother speak. I pray for her and hope she finds peace of mind. All I could say to her is hopefully this movie will prevent another senseless death somehow. . .
The actors did wonderfully and it is a good movie.
Abby
peter said
December 30 2008 @ 2:24 pm
i like this movie!! sucks that it was true thoe