Alpha Dog Reviews

As posted on the IMDB.com forum:

"The Good:
Justin Timberlake - Not expecting much... He gave a really good performance and might have a 2nd career ahead of him.
Anton Yelchin (Zach) - Probably the best acting job in the film...does the really innocent kid experiencing the strange reality he is thrown in really well. I was really impressed in this heartbreaking perfomance... You grow to love the kid and if you know the real story..how it ends.
Ben Foster (Jake) - He does crazy good. From moment one on the screen you could see he was not right.

The Bad:
The pacing of the movie...from the opening credits which seemed to go on for 10 minutes.... show I guess the picture perfect suburban little kids growning up....not forshadowing the dismal turn their lives take. Throughout the whole movie the movie just seemed to stagger along then would take a quick jolt....and then stagger along. I hope the editing will cut at least 30 minutes from the movie.
Emile Hirch - While I admired him in other movies... I just could not buy his performance in this role. Part of the pacing problems in the movie was his performance...he stalled the movie when on screen alot of times.
Sharon Stone - Well...not her performance but the make-up job she had at the end of the movie made me think of Jabba the Hut.

Overall:
This movie has potential but because of Jesse's recent arrest will probably delay the release until after the trial is over as taint the jury pool big time in San Bernadino or Los Angeles County. So this gives the producers a while to fix the problems. Even though the movie is teen agers...this movie is definately a hard- R rated."

***

"In response to to people inquiries about Justin timberlake's acting ability and the movie Alpha Dog I have the answer to your questions. I just saw an audience screening of the movie and I liked the movie very much. Before I get into the details about Justins performance and his role I first want to say this. I have never been a fan of Justin Timberlakes music. I never liked his cheesy songs. So when I went to the screening of Alpha dog and found out Justin Timberlake was in the movie I almost started to laugh. I don't know how many times I've seen a pop star crossover to movies and fail simply because they view the film as a another way to boost their ego. However, Justin Timberlake is an exception. Justin Timberlake is definately the lead in the film and he steals the show from everyone. His portrayal of the character is pitch perfect and from what I saw he put his ego aside and gave himself to the story and the character. I was surprised, expecting him to fall flat on his face; but instead, he proved me wrong and I have to give him kudos for his performance."

By MikeSter24:

Wow! Justin truly is the new triple threat of the 21st century. His acting is so believable. In the breakdown scene (found in the trailers), he just sells it. Everyone in the audience gasped during its climax. I'm not just saying that his acting is good; all of the actors in the film did an amazing job. This, too, can be said for the writer and director Nick C.

During Q&A someone asked Nick Cavesetes (sp?) why there was no Timberlake dancing? Timberlake walked forward on stage and did the funniest tap/wobble dance (reminds me of that damn dancing banana found on this site). He also mentioned how Nick asked him to play the lead role in the Notebook, but he was like you need someone better than me, lol...

Alright, the movie over all was good, I'd give it a 3 1/2 stars (out of 5). It pulls you in from when the opening credits appear to when the movie is done.

The script was true to the characters (a lot of swearing going on). $@#%$ my coc*, F this F that, but it had to be there because it just seems like something the characters would say. The chemistry was right on with everyone; they truly seemed like real friends.

Spoilers...

The chemistry between Zack and Frankie was extremely believable especially in the final moments (climax). Frankie (Justin) emotions go through the roof for this kid. Very powerful shooting and editing going on throughout the scene. The scenes leading up to the climax help intensify it, where as in the trailer it does seem rushed.

End of spoiler...

The atmosphere after the film was normal for a Sundance Premier. Just a lot of buzz, it did not however receive a standing ovation (the first premier I've been too that did not). The people’s reactions/feelings seemed to be just average. The movie was very upsetting it sort-of gives you the feeling of something like that of school shootings or gay bashing. You know the feeling where you don't understand how someone would do such a thing (I don't know if you'll understand this it's just a hard feeling the explain. As for the lady who could not fall asleep for two days, there is something wrong with her, lol... No, for real IT IS an intense story based on true events and it does pull you in with a lot of love and emotion, but enough to keep you awake for 2 days, NO...

Spoilers...

Oh god here we go, Justin does have a love scene. It is the longest love scene I have ever seen. In favor for you girls, there is even a nude silhouette of both him and the girl’s body (doesn't show anything, but you know what I mean). Now that all of you girls and quite possibly some guys are drooling over this, the love scene happens for a few brief moments. In which he is on the bed with his shirt rolled up and pants on while a girl is dry humping and kissing him. He then answers the phone and literally pushes her off of him.

He is shirtless in about (I don’t know) 3/8ths of the movie. One scene had a girl in front of me gasping for air, because near the end he opens the door to his room and he is pulling his boxer-briefs/boxers/towel (I don’t really remember, lol) up so you get a little peak you know at his pelvic region. Similar to that infamous Rolling Stones cover. I can’t believe I’m writing this….

End of spoilers...

One thing I forgot to mention: Justin and Ben Foster get along so well with each other. I was very surprised to see their interactions with one another. During Q&A Ben kept taking photos of Justin and Justin would make weird faces. It was very funny…

By the end of every Sundance Film Festival, you see one film – or more than one – where the reaction isn't just against the film, but against the Festival itself: What movie didn't get the chance to debut at the festival because this movie took up a slot in the Premieres Category? For me, this year, that film was Alpha Dog – based on the true tale of a young drug dealer and thug in L.A. who spent five years on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. Written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, Alpha Dog is one in a long line of sun-splashed, kids-in-trouble crime films where a group of young, aimless, drugged-up and violent boys have fun, fun, fun 'till daddy takes their gun away.

Johnny (Emile Hirsch) has a devoted crew of hangers-on and foot soldiers, lifelong friends and flunkies who owe him money; there's also the possibility that Johnny is just a convenient cut-out level of protection for his dad Sonny (Bruce Willis) and the family criminal enterprise. Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster) owes Johnny money, and the tit-for-tat provocations and retaliations of trying to figure out how, or if, the debt will be paid culminate in Johnny's boys impulsively picking Jake's little brother Zach (Anton Yelchin) off the street. This isn't just a bad idea: It's a Federal Felony, and Johnny and his right-hand buddy Frankie (Justin Timberlake) are trying to see through their perpetually stoned haze to find an end result for this sequence of events that doesn't leave them dead or in jail.

The second we see Frankie and Jake's bodies spiderwebbed with tattoos in a riot of colors, we understand that long-term thinking is not among these kid's skill sets. But watching a group of arrogant juvenile offenders fail to understand mortality or morality is a movie we've seen far too many times before. In fact, Cassavetes keeps the pacing of the movie at a sluggish pace. As soon as we start seeing titles on screen labeling bystanders as "Witness #1," we're waiting for bad things to happen … and that wait becomes interminable.

There is some good acting in Alpha Dog – specifically from Timberlake and Yelchin. It's easy to laugh at Timberlake the second he's on-screen thanks to his public persona as a lightweight wanna-be ; the wisdom of the film comes as Cassavetes has Timberlake play a lightweight wanna-be, a callow boy who can joke about murder until he's realized too late he's about to do it. Yelchin is also impressive, capturing Zack's arc from initial worry to enjoying his kidnapped state to realizing that his new friendship with Frankie is meaningless in the context of deepening consequences. Alpha Dog promises social commentary and stylish violence, but its bite and bark are both familiar to mean anything to viewers.

Others on Alpha Dog: Variety's Justin Chang calls it "standard-issue tabloid fare pimped out as a serious true-crime saga" that "recklessly blurs the line between reconstruction and reality in ways that are admittedly interesting, if more than a little artistically suspect." Writing in The Hollywood Reporter, Kirk Honeycutt describes the film as "a well-made ensemble movie in which actors take chances with uncomfortably repulsive characters or roles unlike any previous performances."