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Alpha Dog

6.3

11,902

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Original title

Alpha Dog

Year

2006

Running time

117 min.

Country

United States

Director

Nick Cassavetes

Screenwriter

Nick Cassavetes

Cast

Music

Aaron Zigman

Cinematography

Robert Fraisse

Producer

Sidney Kimmel

Genre

Thriller. Mystery. Drama | Crime. Based on a true story. 1990s

Synopsis

When a young drug dealer by the name of Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) kidnaps Zack Mazurka (Anton Yelchin), the 15-year-old brother of a man in debt to him, things don't go according to plan. As he desperately tries to get the money owed to him, Johnny's crew looks after Zack. Though a hostage, Zack is enjoying the excitement of his situation, blissfully unaware of the despair of his parents and his brother's rage.

Awards: 2007: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: Nominated for Best Supp. Actor (Foster)

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Critics' reviews

"Alpha Dog isn't a happy movie, but it's dramatically solid and the impressions it leaves will not be easily shaken."

James Berardinelli: ReelViews
"Don't be fooled by the presence of some pretty-boy actors: Alpha Dog is a gritty, gut-wrenching and disturbing film."

Claudia Puig: USA Today
"The cretins rule in Alpha Dog, which has much the same entertainment value you get from watching monkeys fling scat at one another in a zoo"

Manohla Dargis: The New York Times
"Around the midpoint Alpha Dog becomes less sociological and more personal, developing a real sense of suspense."

Michael Phillips: Chicago Tribune
"The movie suffers from an uncertain structure, but it boasts an extraordinary naturalism"

Stephen Hunter: The Washington Post
"Justin Timberlake shows that he can do more as an actor than just take his shirt off - though he does that a lot as well - in the irresponsible, uncommercial but surprisingly watchable Alpha Dog"

Lou Lumenick: New York Post
"Nick Cassavetes seems to have modeled this ambitious docudrama on Larry Clark's kiddie-porn shockers, but he doesn't know what to leave out, and the movie becomes excessively complicated"

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Chicago Reader
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Ranking Lists Position

81 My Top 10 Movies from 2006 (28)

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Alpha Dog

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