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Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this movie is absolutely not for kids, even though it stars Justin Timberlake. Based on a true story, it focuses on older teens and twentysomethings who are "lost" in numerous ways: They do and deal drugs (some encouraged by parents who also smoke pot), have sex, drink, lie, cheat, and commit all manner of violent acts, including abduction and murder. Frequent, graphic violence includes shootings, fights (with lots of broken glass), bloody injuries, a nasty broken arm (it cracks loudly), kicks, a boy knocking girls to the ground; a "crew" destroying their enemy's home, and a particularly upsetting murder in which the duct-taped victim tearfully begs to be spared (but isn't). Sex scenes (in bed and in a pool) show naked bottoms and breasts (one father invites his son to join him and the two women he's with). Frequent pot smoking (and preparation, as one father grows it in his garden), drinking, and cigarette smoking. Major characters are drug dealers and addicts. Language includes hundreds of "f--k"s, plus other familiar obscenities and racist, sexist, and homophobic terms.
Families can discuss the idea of bad parenting as a theme of the movie. How are the movie's parent characters ineffective? How does the younger characters' behavior (violence, sex, drug use) reflect what they see on television and in their own homes? Do they have any other options? Do those options change after the kidnapping? How would you describe the characters' goals? How do the girls and young women respond differently (compare, for instance, Julie and Susan)? Do you think starring in a movie like this will affect Justin Timberlake's reputation/popularity? Why do you think he decided to take the part?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
Based on an actual 2000 murder case, ALPHA DOG is part formal experimentation, part big-screen America's Most Wanted, part showcase for talented young performers, and part lament for "today's youth."
Director Nick Cassavetes' movie begins with Eva Cassidy's sorrowful cover version of "Over the Rainbow," as home movie-style images show children laughing and playing with their families and celebrating holidays. When one youngster points a toy gun at the camera, you get a sense of the film's dire trajectory.
A cut to Sonny (Bruce Willis) reveals the film's thematic concern. He asks an interviewer, "You wanna know what is this all about?" Though he asserts that most people will "say it's about guns or drugs or disaffected youth," from Sonny's perspective, "It's about parenting." While this states one of the film's primary themes -- that badly behaving kids are repeatedly ignored or poorly instructed by their parents -- it's also darkly ironic, since Sonny is the father of the character based on real-life suspect Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer and bully named Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch). Also a drug dealer and small-time crook, Sonny is hardly in a position to model good parenting.
The film then goes back in time, detailing the day-by-day chronology of the kidnapping and eventual murder of 15-year-old Zack (Anton Yelchin). Zack has the misfortune to be the half-brother of speed freak Jake (Ben Foster), whose utter inability to contain his habit, check his aggression, or look after Zack leads to disaster. The film frames Jake's lapses with his hatred of his father, Butch (David Thornton), and stepmother, Olivia (Sharon Stone), and their half-hearted efforts to support him, depend on him, and eventually cut him off. In this fully dysfunctional environment, Zack desires to emulate Jake, whom he sees as "cool."
Because Jake owes him money (a mere $1200), Johnny takes an opportunity that comes up by accident: Zack has slipped out his bedroom window, looking to avoid a confrontation with his angry parents. Johnny and his crew -- including Frankie (Justin Timberlake), Elvis (Shawn Hatosy), and Tiko (Fernando Vargas) -- grab Zack off the street and haul him home, where they hold him for ransom, though they don't actually tell Jake what they're doing until later. But their community of wannabe gangsters is small enough that word spreads quickly. Jake, so jacked up on crack that he can't see straight, only resents the aggression and refuses to make a deal.
All this leads to three days of awkward indecision, as Johnny and his buddies smoke pot and cigarettes, drink beer, and watch hip-hop gangsta videos. They also party and have sex with various girls, only one of whom -- Susan (Dominique Swain) -- raises any question about the fact that they have a young, naïve "stolen boy" at the house with them.
For his part, Zack foolishly goes along with the plan, passing up opportunities to go home since he believes his abduction will help his brother sort himself out. What's more, Zack is pleased that pretty Julie (Amanda Seyfried) likes him enough to help him lose his virginity. The film thus identifies a number of possible "reasons" for the murder, most having to do with ignorance -- by the victim, the aggressors, the parents, and the 30-odd "witnesses" (who numbered on screen as they speak to Zack or merely pass through a scene, unaware of the situation). Any one of these players might have changed the event, had he or she spoken out.
As energetic and sensational as it is, Alpha Dog gives short shrift to key themes having to do with class differences and gendered behaviors. As much as these boys want to show off their vaunted hyper-masculinity (they lift weights, fight repeatedly, pull out guns, and talk about sex a lot), they're unable to have conversations (they are, however, very adept at flinging obscenities in efforts to avoid self-examination). And the movie doesn't dig much deeper than the boys in its representation of the persistent problem of violent, careless kids who feel lost, their childhoods "stolen."
Fans will want to see the films that influenced this one, like Larry Clark's Kids and Bully or Tim Hunter's River's Edge. Other films about troubled, violent youths include the excellent City of God, Boyz N the Hood, and Lords of Dogtown, starring Hirsch as a skateboarder.
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Sexual ContentSexual slang ("you chasin' tail?", "faggot," "p--sy"); frequent references to sex acts ("suck c--k," "dildo up the ass"); several sex acts (in bed, threesome kissing in pool); a girl's tatoo features naked breasts; sex scenes in the pool and in bed show naked breasts and bottoms; man entwined on sofa with two women in underwear; mother appears at door in sheet, telling her daughter to leave her alone so "I can screw your father." |
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ViolenceRepeated graphic violence; graphic shooting in rap music videos (blood spurts from victims' chests); fights involve breaking glass table/windows, bloody injuries, broken arm, kicks to crotches, a boy punching out girls; a "crew" breaks into "enemy"'s home and destroys furniture, TV, etc. (one boy defecates on a rug); murder victim-to-be is shown begging for his life and is then shot anyway (blood all over ground); mother discusses three suicide attempts. |
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LanguageRelentless language, including "f--k" (about 300 uses, several with "mother"); "s--t" (20), multiple uses of "faggot," "hell," "c--ksuckers," "d---wad," and "bastard," plus two uses each of "spook" (in reference to blacks/slaves) and the "N" word; one use of "c--t." |
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Social BehaviorKids and young people are careless, mean-spirited, and selfish, as well as drug addicts; adults remain self-absorbed, remote, and angry, serving as poor role models; the story is inspired by the real-life kidnapping and murder of one addict's 15-year-old brother and the apathy of more than 30 witnesses. |
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CommercialismBeer logos visible at convenience store; Members Only jacket; Outbacks Steakhouse, Scarface poster in bedroom. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoFrequent drinking (mostly beer) by young adults, as well as 15-year-old boy; bongs visible and in use; several scenes chow characters drunk and behaving badly (sexual aggression, passing out); frequent pot-smoking and preparation (one character's father grows marijuana in his garden alongside organic vegetables); mother tells her daughter, "I'm ex-ing" cigarette smoking in nearly every scene (when 15-year-old Jake demurs, Frankie encourages him, "It's good for you"); central characters also deal drugs; Jake appears high (on some form of speed/crack) in several scenes. |
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