Alpha Dog

Here’s a different take on the docudrama format. Writer/director Nick Cassavetes dives headfirst into the true story of a group of Southern California rich kids that goofed their way into kidnapping and sudden violence in August of 2000. With a dream cast of the youngest and brightest actors of the day, Cassavetes creates a movie that feels like you’re watching an apathetic group of kids riding down a progressively steeper incline in an unmanned vehicle. The alpha dog of the film’s title is bully drug dealer Johnny Truelove (based on Jesse James Hollywood) whose ego gets taken down a peg by Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster) a local junkie who aggressively refuses to pony up the $1000 he owes. Johnny haphazardly kidnaps Jake’s younger brother Zack (Anton Yelchin) with the help of his friends, and has Zack spirited away from the San Fernando Valley to Palm Springs. As days pass, everyone but Johnny and his indebted lackey Elvis (Shawn Hatosy) underestimate the depth of the imminent trouble ahead. Sharon Stone adds a touch of virtuosity to the already strong ensemble performances in this precisely drawn lineage of a crime.

Rated R, 117 mins. (B) (Three Stars)