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Director Nick Cassavetes has gone to great lengths to
distance himself from the work of his father, John. Whereas the elder
Cassavetes was known for pioneering an avant-garde sense of realism in his
low-budget independent films (Shadows, Faces, Husbands), his son has tackled a wide variety of genres, as if trying to
find his footing behind the camera. An adaptation of one of his
father’s scripts (She’s So Lovely), a social melodrama (John Q), and a love story that succeeded against the odds (The Notebook) are on his
résumé — but none of them bears any resemblance to his
latest work, Alpha Dog.
Ironically, this gritty urban drama is the sort of
movie Nick’s father might have made were he making films today. Alpha Dog strives to be
innovative in telling its tragic tale of a group of lost teens who get
swept up in media hype and are forgotten by their preoccupied parents. The
story is so compelling, we’re riveted throughout. The hard-edged film is based on the true story of
Jesse James Hollywood, a gangsta wannabe among the aimless youth who
populate the endless Southern California suburbs. Hollywood’s
onscreen counterpart is Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch), a small-time pusher
who thinks he’s king of the cul-de-sac. Modeling his life after the
outlaw image perpetuated by the rappers they listen to, Truelove and his
homeboys ride tough, but they’re just little boys who are perpetually
lost. When Truelove fails to repay a debt to a fellow poseur, Jake
Marzursky (Ben Foster), and tensions rise between them, he impulsively
kidnaps Marzursky’s half-brother Zack (Anton Yelchin) in retribution.
From there the film turns into a road trip, both literally and figuratively
— and ends in tragedy. The acting here is top-notch, with the young leads
showing a degree of vulnerability beneath their tough exteriors that gives
the film a tragic tone rather than an exploitive one. Equally good are
Bruce Willis as Truelove’s enabling father, Sharon Stone as
Zack’s raging mother, and Justin Timberlake, impressive as
Johnny’s right-hand man.
This article appears in Jan 4-10, 2007.
