Jason KingAlpha Dog ($13-)
June 9th 2009 11:00
:
Beautiful but Sad White Gangsta Film
Category: No Category
Alpha Dog ($13-)
When I first heard about this film a couple of years ago I was so excited. I was keen to see what Justin Timberlake would be like in a film with a cast as amazing as this. Here's the cast: Emile Hirsch, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Ben Foster and Anton Yelchin. And it was about a great story. Then they pulled the cinema release in Australia and I read some bad reviews of the film so basically avoided it once it went to DVD. But this week I bought a Blu Ray player - bloody insane imagery onscreen - and am hiring all the weeklies I have not seen on Blu Ray yet. I hired this film and 2010 yesterday and thought this would be mediocre and 2010 would be pretty good - it was totally the other way around. This kicked ass and 2010 was lame (review on this to come soon).
Inspired by actual events in the life of Jesse James Hollywood, Alpha Dog revolves around a small time drug dealer in San Gabriel Valley, California, during the late 1990s, who becomes the youngest man ever to appear on the "FBI's Most Wanted" list. At 20, Johnny Truelove aka Hollywood (Emile Hirsch) is a young man whose home is a popular gathering place for his friends to do drugs and have sex. But all good things come to an end when one of Johnny's drug dealers, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), owes him $1,200. Jake's 15-year old half-brother, Zack (Anton Yelchin), is kidnapped and held as collateral to get the money. Zack's status is ambiguous--he's offered the opportunity to run at one point and turns it down, not wanting to get Frankie (Justin Timberlake) (the gang member with whom he's bonded most strongly) in trouble. He is held by the gang for several days, during which he parties, loses his virginity, and most significantly, is witnessed being held by Truelove's posse by upwards of 40 fellow partiers, drug customers and random bystanders. However, when the police get involved, things change for Johnny and his gang.
What I Disliked About this Film:
To be honest I think Emile Hirsch was just lame in this film. I do not solely blame him for this. I think the script has much to answer for. His character spends about one third of the movie saying he is confused and does not know what to do. Was he relaying the script writers dilemma on how to get this character across? Hirsch was also completely out staged by JT and Yelchin - the relationship they formed in the film I found sensational.
I also completely disliked how everyone in the film who smoked pot had their eyes or rims of eyes made so red to emphasise the point. Not everyone that smokes pot looks like they have swam 20k's in a pool of 300% chlorine mixture while never closing their eyes.
What I liked About This Film: Some of the acting in this film is pure standout.
1) Sharon Stone is remarkable, while only a short part it is powerful and the ending while in a badly madeup fatsuit is very emotional and reminds me what she used to be able to do. Nice work Shazza!!
2) Bruce Willis is yet again superb in a supporting role as mysterious gangster/ dealer dad. He is kind of scary but also just a father and family man running a business that is illegal.
3) Justin Timberlake has some moments of overacting (especially with laughter) at the start of the film - but I was over scrutinising him in this as it was the first time I had seen him on film. If he was a homey gangster trying to look way cool - he probably would overdo everything. He shows some true depth in this and his reactions off everyone else are amazing. Like I already said, his brotherly relationship with Yelchin's character (Zack) brought tears to my eyes. The heartbreak that comes towards the end was really sad. He was better in this film than Hirsch by a long shot.
4) Anton Yelchin is fast becoming my new favourite young actor. From seeing him in Star Trek, Terminator Salvation and now this (even though the first one filmed) I can see him becoming a HUGE actor and so far I cannot fault him. He has this younger brother feel to him and you empathise with him immensely in this film.
5) Ben Foster seriously deserved an award for this film. His dedication to the character is mind blowing. He is chilling and I would like to see him do some more roles of this level.
These are some of the things he did to get into character and while he was in character;
To prepare for his role in this movie, actor Ben Foster asked one of his friends who was an ex-crystal meth addict for guidance. The friend introduced him to a group of people who gave Foster an all-access pass into the lifestyle.
Ben Foster risked his sight for the movie by adding glaucoma drops to his eyes for much of the shoot to dilate his pupils, making him appear to be high. He'd hide in the bushes at night and cover his eyes between takes to keep the lights from shining into them. He would also talk to Nick Cassavetes with his eyes closed.
The tattoo encircling Jake Mazursky's (Ben Foster) neck is the original Hebrew verse from Psalms 109:14, "Let not the sin of his mother be blotted out".
In a scene where they have a fight, Sharon Stone hit Ben Foster so hard that his nose started bleeding. He told her to do so, because he said the scene needed to be as realistic as possible.
6) So many hot guys with shirts off - hahahahahahahaha
Trivia courtesy of IMDB:
When Wanda Haynes (Heather Wahlquist) screams "Heil" in Jake Mazursky's (Ben Foster) apartment, the entire part was improvised. When done with the line, the cast went along with it, and then director, Nick Cassavetes kept it in the film.
The film begins with actual home video of some of the cast members when they were children. Anton Yelchin (Zack Mazursky) is the last child shown. He still looks exactly the same and is so recognisable.
The word "fuck" and its derivatives is said 367 times.
During filming, Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ronald J. Zonen provided copies of virtually every document in his file on the real life case and served as an unpaid consultant to the film.
Was originally to be distributed by New Line Cinema but after New Line requested edits to the film that the director was unwilling to make they sold the movie to Universal, who then released it as the director originally intended. The transition caused the movie to be delayed nearly a year from it's originally intended release date set by New Line.
The song "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" plays as Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) is getting ready to skip town and go on the run from the police. This makes sense, because Johnny Truelove's real name was Jesse James Hollywood.
One thing I like about this film is that is shows that gangsters aren't all hard core Hollywood stereotypical gangsters - they are normal people doing normal things. These guys just sold pot and the business grew and then they made wrong choices which culminated in an ultimate wrong choice both immorally and preservationally. And the choice was made over something so small and trivial - $1200-. This scored one of them a spot on the FBI's most wanted list and the death of an innocent. One of my old best friends wrote my car off. He owed me $5000- but instead did the runner to QLD and no one heard from him again. I know where his family is but I am yet to murder them
.
I hope to see JT do some more acting and highly recommend this film to all who do not mind hearing the word fuck 367 times. Worth $13- and on DVD and Blu Ray.
When I first heard about this film a couple of years ago I was so excited. I was keen to see what Justin Timberlake would be like in a film with a cast as amazing as this. Here's the cast: Emile Hirsch, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Ben Foster and Anton Yelchin. And it was about a great story. Then they pulled the cinema release in Australia and I read some bad reviews of the film so basically avoided it once it went to DVD. But this week I bought a Blu Ray player - bloody insane imagery onscreen - and am hiring all the weeklies I have not seen on Blu Ray yet. I hired this film and 2010 yesterday and thought this would be mediocre and 2010 would be pretty good - it was totally the other way around. This kicked ass and 2010 was lame (review on this to come soon).
Alpha Dog
Inspired by actual events in the life of Jesse James Hollywood, Alpha Dog revolves around a small time drug dealer in San Gabriel Valley, California, during the late 1990s, who becomes the youngest man ever to appear on the "FBI's Most Wanted" list. At 20, Johnny Truelove aka Hollywood (Emile Hirsch) is a young man whose home is a popular gathering place for his friends to do drugs and have sex. But all good things come to an end when one of Johnny's drug dealers, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), owes him $1,200. Jake's 15-year old half-brother, Zack (Anton Yelchin), is kidnapped and held as collateral to get the money. Zack's status is ambiguous--he's offered the opportunity to run at one point and turns it down, not wanting to get Frankie (Justin Timberlake) (the gang member with whom he's bonded most strongly) in trouble. He is held by the gang for several days, during which he parties, loses his virginity, and most significantly, is witnessed being held by Truelove's posse by upwards of 40 fellow partiers, drug customers and random bystanders. However, when the police get involved, things change for Johnny and his gang.
Emile Hirsch Alpha Dog
What I Disliked About this Film:
To be honest I think Emile Hirsch was just lame in this film. I do not solely blame him for this. I think the script has much to answer for. His character spends about one third of the movie saying he is confused and does not know what to do. Was he relaying the script writers dilemma on how to get this character across? Hirsch was also completely out staged by JT and Yelchin - the relationship they formed in the film I found sensational.
I also completely disliked how everyone in the film who smoked pot had their eyes or rims of eyes made so red to emphasise the point. Not everyone that smokes pot looks like they have swam 20k's in a pool of 300% chlorine mixture while never closing their eyes.
Justin Timberlake Alpha Dog
What I liked About This Film: Some of the acting in this film is pure standout.
1) Sharon Stone is remarkable, while only a short part it is powerful and the ending while in a badly madeup fatsuit is very emotional and reminds me what she used to be able to do. Nice work Shazza!!
2) Bruce Willis is yet again superb in a supporting role as mysterious gangster/ dealer dad. He is kind of scary but also just a father and family man running a business that is illegal.
3) Justin Timberlake has some moments of overacting (especially with laughter) at the start of the film - but I was over scrutinising him in this as it was the first time I had seen him on film. If he was a homey gangster trying to look way cool - he probably would overdo everything. He shows some true depth in this and his reactions off everyone else are amazing. Like I already said, his brotherly relationship with Yelchin's character (Zack) brought tears to my eyes. The heartbreak that comes towards the end was really sad. He was better in this film than Hirsch by a long shot.
Anton Yelchin Alpha Dog
4) Anton Yelchin is fast becoming my new favourite young actor. From seeing him in Star Trek, Terminator Salvation and now this (even though the first one filmed) I can see him becoming a HUGE actor and so far I cannot fault him. He has this younger brother feel to him and you empathise with him immensely in this film.
Ben Foster Alpha Dog
5) Ben Foster seriously deserved an award for this film. His dedication to the character is mind blowing. He is chilling and I would like to see him do some more roles of this level.
These are some of the things he did to get into character and while he was in character;
To prepare for his role in this movie, actor Ben Foster asked one of his friends who was an ex-crystal meth addict for guidance. The friend introduced him to a group of people who gave Foster an all-access pass into the lifestyle.
Ben Foster risked his sight for the movie by adding glaucoma drops to his eyes for much of the shoot to dilate his pupils, making him appear to be high. He'd hide in the bushes at night and cover his eyes between takes to keep the lights from shining into them. He would also talk to Nick Cassavetes with his eyes closed.
The tattoo encircling Jake Mazursky's (Ben Foster) neck is the original Hebrew verse from Psalms 109:14, "Let not the sin of his mother be blotted out".
In a scene where they have a fight, Sharon Stone hit Ben Foster so hard that his nose started bleeding. He told her to do so, because he said the scene needed to be as realistic as possible.
6) So many hot guys with shirts off - hahahahahahahaha
Trivia courtesy of IMDB:
When Wanda Haynes (Heather Wahlquist) screams "Heil" in Jake Mazursky's (Ben Foster) apartment, the entire part was improvised. When done with the line, the cast went along with it, and then director, Nick Cassavetes kept it in the film.
The film begins with actual home video of some of the cast members when they were children. Anton Yelchin (Zack Mazursky) is the last child shown. He still looks exactly the same and is so recognisable.
The word "fuck" and its derivatives is said 367 times.
During filming, Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ronald J. Zonen provided copies of virtually every document in his file on the real life case and served as an unpaid consultant to the film.
Was originally to be distributed by New Line Cinema but after New Line requested edits to the film that the director was unwilling to make they sold the movie to Universal, who then released it as the director originally intended. The transition caused the movie to be delayed nearly a year from it's originally intended release date set by New Line.
The song "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" plays as Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) is getting ready to skip town and go on the run from the police. This makes sense, because Johnny Truelove's real name was Jesse James Hollywood.
Justin Timberlake and Anton Yelchin Alpha Dog
One thing I like about this film is that is shows that gangsters aren't all hard core Hollywood stereotypical gangsters - they are normal people doing normal things. These guys just sold pot and the business grew and then they made wrong choices which culminated in an ultimate wrong choice both immorally and preservationally. And the choice was made over something so small and trivial - $1200-. This scored one of them a spot on the FBI's most wanted list and the death of an innocent. One of my old best friends wrote my car off. He owed me $5000- but instead did the runner to QLD and no one heard from him again. I know where his family is but I am yet to murder them
.I hope to see JT do some more acting and highly recommend this film to all who do not mind hearing the word fuck 367 times. Worth $13- and on DVD and Blu Ray.
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im also very enthusiastic about Ben Foster ever since 3:10 To Yuma
Comment by Jason King
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I loathed Southland Tales and I have wiped it from my memory.
But I agree - he should do more film - maybe Tarantino can make him great in something odd and maybe tie it in with a rebirth of Winona Ryder. I watched Heathers the other night for the first time and have to write the review. Awesome film! But now I want Winona comeback.
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Language in a film has to meet the reality of the life being portrayed.
367 times is probably a low number of uses of the word fuck in that sort of situation in reality.
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Fucking brilliant
Comment by Carolyn Cordon
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