Although many of the actual names and locations have been changed for the movie, Nick Cassavetes' "Alpha Dog" tells the largely fact-based story of a particularly heinous homicide that took place in Southern California in the summer of 2000 (changed to the fall of 1999 for the film). The crime involved a group of young drug dealers who kidnapped, then eventually murdered, the 15-year-old brother of a fellow drug dealer who owed the ringleader money and who, largely out of stubbornness and pride, refused to pay up the debt. After the discovery of the body, most of the perpetrators were convicted and sent to prison, but the mastermind, Jesse James Hollywood (called Johnny Truelove in the movie), managed to flee to South America where, in 2005, he was eventually arrested and sent back to the States to face trial on the charge of murder-in-the-first-degree.

"Alpha Dog" provides a grim, depressing look at the dark underbelly of American society where amoral, disenfranchised and disaffected youth play life-and-death games with drugs and guns, often with tragic consequences. In the case of this story, what begins almost as a spontaneous lark suddenly turns into deadly serious business as events begin to spiral further and further out of control as the story races ever more rapidly to its pre-ordained and inexorably tragic conclusion. Cassavetes has written a tight script that captures the fast-paced, drug-soaked milieu in which these young people do their "business." Yet, even though a number of the boys display a callous disregard for life, there are others who see the wrongness of what they are doing but who, through fear or misplaced loyalty or simply a belief that things "would never really go that far," fail to put the brakes on the whole sordid affair before it is too late. It is in that context that Truelove relinquishes his role as the main focal point of the film in favor of Frankie Ballenbacher, a cheerfully sardonic wise guy whose job it is to watch over the boy while Johnny figures out what next to do with him. As Frankie becomes more and more attached to the kid, it becomes harder and harder for him to comply with Johnny's ultimate order of liquidating him. Frankie, thus, becomes the emotional buy-in point for the audience, even more so than the kidnapped boy himself.

There are fine performances by Emile Hirsch, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Foster ("Six Feet Under"), Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton and Sharon Stone, among others, but it is Justin Timberlake, as the high-strung but basically goodhearted Frankie, who walks off with the film. In his every moment on screen, the charismatic Timberlake brings an intensity, shrewdness and liveliness to his performance that bodes well for his future career in movies.

In his direction, Cassavetes generates a starkness of vision and moodiness of tone that are greatly enhanced by the brooding, darkly-lit camera-work of French cinematographer Robert Fraisse.

The movie has a few weaknesses. The faux-interview scenes, which Cassavetes periodically interjects into the film, don't do much to enhance the storyline and succeed only in confusing the audience and interrupting the action. Moreover, the ending comes upon us much too abruptly, depriving us of a sense of completion and catharsis, particularly in regards to Frankie's apprehension and feelings of remorse over what he did, as well as the older brother's reaction to the discovery of his sibling's body. And there are sporadic rare moments, mainly in the early part of the film, where one gets the sense that the cast members are "playacting" rather than truly inhabiting their parts. But these impressions are few and very fleeting and, for the most part, the actors do an admirable job of conveying the down-and-dirty reality of the life they are portraying.

"Alpha Dog" turns the spotlight on a subset of society we may not want to admit is there but which nonetheless exerts a tremendous negative influence on all our lives. The film serves as an alarm signal and a wakeup call that we ignore at our own peril.

I found this film to be very intriging. I found the actors to be casted perfectl, including Timberlake {to my surprise}. But the performance that stood out was that of Ben Foster, whom went through a complete body transformation for his portrayl in the film.If you are not aware of the true crime story before this film you will be on the edge of you seat wondering what will happen next.

ALPHA DOG is a film that will resonate with the younger generation as its theme of drugs, rap music and sex can be translated through out the world where a group of teens are angry, ignored and violent. Whether it is the San Fernando valley or the Silicon valley, young men and women with time and money to spend on drink, drugs and sex will find the film is very familiar to their life styles. Sad, but true.

The first two acts of the film the dialog is really crude and filthy, and really becomes tiresome, but in relation to young druggies, this is their way of communicating. As an adult, I found it difficult to have any empathy for the young "Alpha males" except for the brilliant role of Anton Yelchin as Zack. He is so wonderful in his role and captures the innocence of a 15 year old and his final horrifying scenes are ones to remember. And Ben Foster as Zack's brother is sensational in a role that is both powerful and frightening at the same time.

I wish this film were one you could find some redemption for, but I felt none at the end and Sharon Stone is once again terrific in a small, but powerful role as the mother. The young cast is awesome and true to the angry youth of today.

This is an excellent film.I would recommend it to anyone to watch.The very surprising thing that struck me about this film apart from its top notch script and direction,is the almost brilliant performance by Justin Timberlake.The guy shows pure class in this movie and up to a point carries it.The fact based story is sometimes distorted by the Hollywood scriptwriter.This is not so apparent here, so the film has a very consistent flow to it making it easy watching and very good entertainment.All the parts are played well and it just gels so well.Great music too. This has just gone onto my favs list.5/5