Synopsis
Johnny Truelove likes to see himself as tough. He's the son of an underworld figure and a drug dealer. Johnny also likes to get tough when things don't go his way. When Jake Mazursky fails to pay up for Johnny, things get worse for the Mazursky family, as Johnny and his 'gang' kidnap Jake's 15 year old brother and holds him hostage. Problem now is what to do with 'stolen boy?'
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Cast
- Emile HirschJohnny Truelove
- Bruce WillisSonny Truelove
- Amanda SeyfriedJulie Beckley
- Justin TimberlakeFrankie Ballenbacher
- Shawn HatosyElvis Schmidt
- Ben FosterJake Mazursky
- Harry Dean StantonCosmo Gadabeeti
- Matthew BarryInterviewer (as Matt Barry)
- Fernando VargasTiko "TKO" Martinez
- Vincent KartheiserPick Giaimo
Recommendations
- 80
L.A. Weekly
In his best film to date, Nick Cassavetes directs with ferocious energy, taking scenes past their logical stopping points and pushing his actors (particularly Foster, who can be as terrifying as Edward Norton in "American History X") to, but never over, the precipice of absurdity. - 75
ReelViews
Alpha Dog isn't a happy movie, but it's dramatically solid and the impressions it leaves will not be easily shaken. - 70
Village Voice
If nothing else, Alpha Dog's worth a look for the performance of Justin Timberlake, the moral center of a movie sorely in need of some conscience. Already a gifted comic actor--his Saturday Night Live appearances are now anticipated events--he proves himself able to go to a pitch-black place. - 60
Variety
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. - 58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
For all of the credibility of the performances (or at least the teens), it all feels like recycled social commentary. - 50
Rolling Stone
Timberlake walks off with the movie. Too bad it's not worth stealing. - 50
Entertainment Weekly
Cassavetes throws in everything he can recycle to grab a core-demo viewer -- slutty teens making out, blaring rock music, guns, split screens. - 50
The A.V. Club
All the bright colors Cassavetes splashes on the canvas don't make Alpha Dog art.
