Alpha Dog

Plot

In 1999, Johnny Truelove works as a young drug dealer while making a living in the San Gabriel Valley. Johnny's father, Sonny, supplies him with marijuana, which he distributes with his gang of friends: Frankie Ballenbacher, Johnny's right-hand man and best friend; Tiko Martinez, the group's muscle; Elvis Schmidt, who is ridiculed for being in debt to Johnny; and Jake Mazursky, a local drug addict also in debt with Johnny. Jake attempts to borrow money from his father, Butch, and stepmother, Olivia, while his younger half-brother Zack looks up to him and longs to escape his home life.

A fight breaks out when Jake tries to pay Johnny only part of his debt, leading Johnny to get him fired from his telemarketing job by ratting on him to his boss that Jake is on drugs, and Jake to retaliate by breaking into and trashing Johnny's house with a couple of his friends. Johnny brings Frankie and Tiko to confront Jake, but he is nowhere to be found. Spotting Zack on the side of a road, the gang impulsively kidnaps him, planning to hold him until Jake pays up, and drive to Palm Springs. Frankie is left to watch Zack while Johnny and Tiko return to San Gabriel for prior commitments. That night, while attending a street fiesta, Frankie offers Zack a chance to leave, but he declines, wanting a break from home and not wanting to cause more problems for Jake, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. Meanwhile, Jake violently interrupts a party that he believes Johnny may be attending, knocking several people unconscious before telling everyone there that he is looking for Truelove.

Staying at the house of Frankie's father, Juergen, Zack meets Frankie's friends Keith Stratten, Julie Beckley (with whom he falls in love), Sabrina Pope (Frankie's girlfriend), and Susan Hartunian, the only one concerned about his abduction. Johnny comes over and contemplates with Frankie on what to do. Frankie suggests that they pay Zack to keep quiet about the kidnapping and send him home, to which Johnny agrees. However, after a threatening phone-call from Jake and learning from his lawyer that he could face life in prison for his actions, Johnny goes to Elvis and offers to cancel his debt if he kills Zack, handing him a submachine gun before going out with his girlfriend, Angela Holden, to celebrate her birthday. Believing Zack will be returning home that night, Frankie and his friends throw a raucous party at a hotel, during which Zack goes skinny dipping with Julie and her friend Alma, leading to a threesome wherein he loses his virginity.

Julie, Alma, Susan, and Sabrina all happily say goodbye to Zack and leave. A little while later, Elvis arrives and argues with Frankie over Johnny's plan to kill Zack. While Frankie runs off, Elvis politely introduces himself to Zack, then takes Keith to dig a grave in the nearby mountains. Frankie returns and gives Zack a final chance to escape, but Zack declines, oblivious to the danger he's in. Elvis and Keith return, and Frankie finally relents when Elvis explains they could all face life in prison if Zack goes home. Sonny, Johnny's godfather and Sonny's older accomplice Cosmo Gadabeeti, and their lawyer confront Johnny, telling him they will try to make a deal with Olivia so the crew will get a light sentence, which Johnny believes will never work. Sonny also furiously orders Johnny to call off the hit, but Johnny refuses, believing Zack is already free.

Cast

Additionally, Alec Vigil plays Johnny's younger brother P.J. Truelove, producer Chuck Pacheco plays Frankie's friend Chucky Mota, and Xan Cassavetes plays Jonna Kirshner, one of the first witnesses of Zack's kidnapping.

Production

Nick Cassavetes developed Alpha Dog as a dramatization inspired by the real-life kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. Although the film is based on the events surrounding the case, Cassavetes altered the names of many of the people involved and incorporated fictionalized dialogue and scenes while retaining the broad outline of the crime.

Principal photography began in the summer of 2004 and took place primarily in Southern California, including locations in Los Angeles and surrounding communities. The production sought to recreate the suburban environment and youth culture depicted in the story, with many scenes filmed in residential neighborhoods, parks, and desert locations.

Cassavetes assembled an ensemble cast consisting of established actors alongside younger performers. Emile Hirsch was cast as Johnny Truelove, the fictional counterpart to Jesse James Hollywood, while Anton Yelchin portrayed Zack Mazursky, based on Nicholas Markowitz. Justin Timberlake was cast as Frankie Ballenbacher, marking one of his earliest dramatic film roles, while Ben Foster portrayed Jake Mazursky. The supporting cast included Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Harry Dean Stanton, Dominique Swain, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde, Lukas Haas, and Vincent Kartheiser.

In preparation for their roles, several cast members researched the real case and worked with Cassavetes to develop their characters. The director has stated that the film was intended to examine themes of peer pressure, immaturity, personal responsibility, and the consequences of violence rather than serve as a documentary account of the events.

Legal issues

During filming in 2004, Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ronald J. Zonen provided copies of many documents on the case and served as an unpaid consultant to the film, citing his desire to have Hollywood captured. Zonen prosecuted Hollywood's co-defendants and was poised to prosecute Hollywood. After Hollywood was captured in Saquarema, Brazil, and subsequently returned to the United States, his defense lawyer claimed Zonen had a conflict of interest; the California Court of Appeal for the Second District ruled on October 5, 2006, that Zonen should be recused from further involvement in prosecuting Hollywood because of his disclosure of the files and work on the film. The California Supreme Court subsequently reversed that holding, but Deputy District Attorney Joshua Lynn replaced Zonen as lead prosecution attorney.

Hollywood's attorney, James Blatt, tried to block the release of the film. After the delay, Hollywood's trial started May 15, 2009, with the defense's opening statements saying Hollywood was not involved with the murder. In his opening statement, Lynn described Hollywood as "a ruthless coward." On July 8, 2009, Hollywood was convicted of simple kidnapping and first-degree murder with special circumstances and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Release

Alpha Dog was first screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006, as the closing film. The film was originally set to be distributed by New Line Cinema, who previously distributed John Q. (2002) and The Notebook (2004) for director Nick Cassavetes. However, Universal Pictures acquired the film after New Line Cinema only planned to give the film a limited release. The film's release was delayed by a year to January 12, 2007.

Home media

Alpha Dog was released on DVD and HD-DVD on May 1, 2007, by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. DVD sales gathered $12,324,535 in revenue from 743,036 units sold. It was released on Blu-ray on July 13, 2010.

Reception

Box office

During its opening weekend, Alpha Dog grossed $6,412,775 and was #7 at the box office. The film closed on February 22, 2007, after grossing $15,309,602 domestically, and totaled $32,145,115 worldwide over its six-week release.

In the United States, Alpha Dog was released on January 12, 2007, along with Stomp the Yard & Primeval.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 54% of 144 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "A glossy yet unflinching portrait of violent, hedonistic teenagers. Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone chew the scenery, while Justin Timberlake gives a noteworthy performance." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Justin Chang of Variety wrote: "Writer-director Nick Cassavetes' sprawling dramatization recklessly blurs the line between reconstruction and reality in ways that are admittedly interesting, if more than a little artistically suspect."

Yelchin was praised as "able to bring all of the conflicting emotions of Zack," and conveying all of it beautifully.

Markowitz family reaction

Susan Markowitz attempted suicide three times. Jeff Markowitz elaborated, "She is so tortured by what happened that she has tried to take her own life. The last thing that either of us want is to see this picture. How would any loving parent feel about a Hollywood movie that glamorizes their son's death and allows celebrities to cash in on a brutal, evil murder?" Nonetheless, both Susan and Jeff attended the film's premiere, and Susan stated she was moved by Anton Yelchin's portrayal of Zack (Nick). After the screening, she embraced Sharon Stone, who played Olivia (Susan).

Music

A soundtrack was released by Milan Records on January 9, 2007.