Nick Cassavetes
Alpha Dog

THE REVIEW

We are in the year 2000 when Nicholas Markowitz, a young American boy, is killed following a kidnapping related to drug issues. A real-life event is the subject of the story that Cassavetes wants to tell us. The director decides to follow the various stages of the case, engaging in dialogues with the defendants, all to make Nicholas's saga more truthful and "real."

Johnny (Hemile Hirsch) is the young leader of a small drug-dealing gang. This gang, and especially its "commander," will have to deal with Jake (Ben Foster), guilty of owing Johnny a sum of money. A war will then begin between the two parties, culminating in the kidnapping of Zack, Jake's brother. But Zack will suffer from the Stockholm syndrome...

"Alpha Dog" stands out for one major reason: for better or worse, the film unintentionally describes a social problem in the United States and particularly in California, namely gangs dedicated to drug dealing even just for fun, blackmail, and parties filled with alcohol and sex. In a scenario of this kind, where money and "irresponsible" parents surround an overall atmosphere of baseness, a society dedicated to pleasures and luxury is placed. This is the society the excellent Cassavetes shows us, engaged in continuous parties where minors bask in the intoxication of risk, driven by the desire to "become someone." The director tells us about the sick urban American society through a style at times documentary-like, with sudden plot twists that reveal more verbal than physical violence.

Cassavetes' great idea, in my opinion, is to show us an apparent sense of security that is actually a mask for the stupidity that the protagonists seem to perceive but do not care about. Johnny and his group of friends are faced with problematic decisions that are promptly resolved in situations of discomfort due to their stupidity and superficiality.

What strikes the audience the most is the coldness with which the various characters make decisions about another's life. Their inexperience or, if you will, their carelessness leads to a frenzy that culminates in a disastrous final decision that most of the gang considers less serious than another...

A cast of actors that includes Hemile Hirsch, Bruce Willis, and Sharon Stone (her final monologue between madness and sadness is splendid) allows Alpha Dog to be remembered for its shocking truth. Cassavetes' film is enjoyable even in its underlying grandiloquence and ends up striking the viewer with the same force as a blow to the head...