Alpha Dog

***Alpha Dog*** is a 2006 American crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes. It is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Christopher Marquette, Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin, and Bruce Willis.

*Alpha Dog* had its world premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006, and was released in the United States on January 12, 2007, by Universal Pictures.

## Plot:

In 1999, Johnny Truelove works as a young drug dealer while making a living in the San Gabriel Valley.

Johnny's father, Sonny, supplies him with marijuana, which he distributes with his gang of friends: Frankie Ballenbacher, Johnny's right-hand man and best friend; Tiko Martinez, the group’s muscle; Elvis Schmidt, who is ridiculed for being in debt to Johnny and will do anything to get into Johnny's inner circle; and Jake Mazursky, a local Neo-Nazi drug addict also in debt with Johnny. Jake attempts to borrow money from his father and stepmother, while his younger half-brother Zack looks up to him and longs to escape his home life.

A fight breaks out when Jake tries to pay Johnny only part of his debt, leading Johnny to get him fired from his telemarketing job, and Jake to retaliate by breaking into Johnny’s house with the help of a couple of his friends. Johnny brings Frankie and Tiko to confront Jake, but he is nowhere to be found. Spotting Zack on the side of a road, Johnny impulsively orders the gang to kidnap him, planning to hold Zack until Jake pays his debt. Wanting a break from home, Zack makes no effort to escape, and they drive to Palm Springs. Frankie is left to watch Zack, offering him a chance to leave, but Zack declines, not wanting to cause more problems for his brother.

Staying at the house of Frankie's father, Zack bonds with him and ingratiates himself with his friends Keith Stratten, Julie Beckley, Sabrina Pope, and Susan Hartunian, though only Susan is concerned by his abduction. Frankie suggests to Johnny that they pay Zack to keep quiet about the kidnapping, and Johnny agrees. However, after a threatening phone call with Jake, and learning from his lawyer that he could face life in prison, Johnny offers to forget Elvis' debt if he kills Zack, giving him a submachine gun. Believing Zack will be returning home that night, Frankie and his friends throw a raucous party at a hotel. Zack goes skinny dipping with Julie and her friend Alma, leading to a threesome.

Everyone happily says goodbye to Zack, until Elvis arrives, arguing with Frankie over Johnny’s plan to kill Zack. While Frankie runs off, Elvis introduces himself to Zack, then takes Keith to dig a grave in the nearby mountains. Frankie returns and gives Zack a final opportunity to escape, but Zack declines, oblivious to the danger he is in. Elvis and Keith return, and Frankie relents when Elvis explains they could face life in prison. Sonny, Johnny's godfather Cosmo, and their lawyer confront Johnny, who refuses to call off the hit on Zack. Zack is later brought to the grave, and despite his and Frankie’s pleas, Elvis insists on following through to repay his debt. Frankie calms Zack and ties him up with duct tape, before Elvis knocks Zack into the grave and shoots him dead.

Zack's body is soon discovered a few days later. Intercuts throughout the film include interviews conducted by Tom Finnegan, a detective, with people connected to Johnny’s gang, and some of the 38 witnesses who saw Zack between his initial kidnapping and eventual murder. One of the witnesses is Zack’s mother Olivia, now suffering from obesity and depression, who talks candidly about attempting suicide in the weeks after her son's tragic death.

Sometime later, Susan angrily confronts Frankie over the murder of Zack before she goes to alert the authorities. Elvis is caught trying to secure a lift out of town from another member of the gang, Pick Giaimo. Johnny flees to Albuquerque, New Mexico where an old classmate of his, Buzz Fecske, then drives him to Cosmo's house. Tiko is convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to nine years in prison; Keith is convicted of second degree murder and remains at the California Youth Authority until the age of 25; Frankie is convicted of aggravated kidnapping of special circumstances and receives a life sentence; Elvis is convicted of kidnapping and first degree murder, and is currently on Death Row in San Quentin State Prison.

Upon being asked about how his son was able to escape authorities for four years without help, Sonny denies any claim. In 2005, after over five years on the FBI’s most wanted list, Johnny is arrested in Paraguay, now in California awaiting trial, facing the death penalty.

## Alpha Qualities:

1. The Film tells the story and inspired by the murder of Nicholas Markowitz in a well-excused fictional way
2. Good Acting from cast examples such as Justin Timberlake (While Noteworthy), Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Emile Hirsch
3. Zacks Death is Very Emotional
4. Good Cinematography
5. Decent Soundtrack
6. Decent Pacing
7. The Film has a Record of 367 F-words Well Execused
8. The opening is Very Heartwarming
9. Good Direction by Nick Cassavetes

## Qualities That Ever Go So Far:

1. While It tells the actual Story of kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz. Its kind of a poor gasp of the story, Notably The Errors
2. Countless Anachronisms, Mistakes and Continuity Errors:
	* The Original Xbox was shown, despite that it was first sold and released in 2001.
	* Theres Characters play the game F.E.A.R., which was released in 2005.
	* The film is set in 1999, but several background vehicles are newer than that, including a 2001 Volvo V70, 2005 Chrysler Town and Country, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali, and 2003 Toyota Sequoia.
	* Johnny Truelove's house has a Pioneer plasma TV. The first plasma display for consumer use was sold a month after Zach's murder.
	* At Mazursky's house, a promo poster for the Xbox game "Men of Valor" is on his fridge. Men of Valor was released October 19, 2004. The film is set in 1999.
	* The movie starts in 1999, but early in the movie when Johnny Truelove is awaiting "the drop" at the liquor store, a silver 2002 Toyota Camry is in the scene.
	* The Grn Apple Tree baseball tee worn by Frankie late in the film was sold in the mid 2000's.
	* When Zack Mazursky escapes his home, 3 posters are on his bedroom wall: a Hidden in Plain View poster, promoting their 2003 self-titled CD, an I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business Poster, promoting their 2004 self-titled CD, and a Drive-Thru Records poster, promoting their stage on the 2002 Vans Warped Tour. The film is set in 1999.
	* When Jake Mazursky gets into the fight at the party while looking for Truelove, he is hit with a glass bottle, and his head begins to bleed. At the end of the fight, there is no blood or any sign that he was hit by the bottle.
	* When Jake is dunking Truelove's head into the pool, Truelove's dog runs out and starts tugging on Jake's right leg. In the next shot when Jake is being pulled off of Truelove and away from the pool his right leg is now coming out of the pool as he is being dragged away.
	* Keith Stratton is only around for a day, but he changes his clothes several times
	* When the Alma, Julie, and Zack are in the pool, Julie ties the tie round his eyes. It's tied, then tied in a bow, then hanging loose, then in a bow, then loose again
	* The air conditioning unit in the "bust scene" wasn't released until 2006.
	* The morning of Zack Mazursky's kidnapping is stated as Friday, November 6, 1999. November 6, 1999 was actually a Saturday.
	* In the end of the film, Olivia Mazursky is being interviewed at Camarillo State Hospital. That hospital closed in June of 1997 (and is now Cal State University Channel Islands). Seeing as her son was murdered in 1999, there is no way she could have been in Camarillo.
3. While The acting is good, Justin Timberlakes Performance can be considered noteworthy.
4. Sharon Stones Fat suit is made Very Poorly and Burce Willis Design look fake causing to chewing scenery.
5. Some Unlikable Characters such as Frankie when he Kills Zack when they were Buddies but it turns out Frankie is a bad buddy
6. While Well-Excused version of the story, This film lead to Susan Markowitz attempted suicide three times. because She was so tortured by what happened that she has tried to take her own life. The last thing that either of us want is to see this picture. How would any loving parent feel about a Hollywood movie that glamorizes their son's death.

## Reception

### Box office

During its opening weekend, *Alpha Dog* grossed $6,412,775 and was #7 at the box office. The film closed on February 22, 2007 after grossing $15,309,602 domestically, and totaled $32,145,115 worldwide over its six-week release.

In the United States, *Alpha Dog* was released on January 12, 2007 along with *Stomp the Yard* & *Primeval*.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 54% of 144 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "A glossy yet unflinching portrait of violent, hedonistic teenagers. Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone chew the scenery, while Justin Timberlake gives a noteworthy performance." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Justin Chang of Variety wrote: "Writer-director Nick Cassavetes' sprawling dramatization recklessly blurs the line between reconstruction and reality in ways that are admittedly interesting, if more than a little artistically suspect." Yelchin was praised as "able to bring all of the conflicting emotions of Zack," and conveying all of it beautifully.

### Markowitz family reaction

Susan Markowitz attempted suicide three times. Jeff Markowitz elaborated, "She is so tortured by what happened that she has tried to take her own life. The last thing that either of us want is to see this picture. How would any loving parent feel about a Hollywood movie that glamorizes their son's death and allows celebrities to cash in on a brutal, evil murder?" Nonetheless, both Susan and Jeff attended the film's premiere, and Susan stated she was moved by Anton Yelchin's portrayal of Zack (Nick). After the screening, she embraced Sharon Stone, who played Olivia (Susan).