ALPHA DOG

1 Star – Destructive

            Based on a true incident, this film presents a story which, if it were not true, few would believe it.  The degradation of generational sin present in the Truelove family is repulsive.  The lifestyle of the young people caught up in the drug and party scene is abhorrent and dehumanizing.  The web of evil that is spread by this family, along with the drug and alcohol culture, begins to not only suck the life from everyone who happened into its lair but also leads them all to a murderous event that took and destroyed innocent lives.  It is a film that is difficult to watch and even more difficult to live through. I know that to be true, because I (Denny) lived only a small part of the real story as the pastor of one of these young men’s family.  Years later, I still feel the trauma of listening to the testimonies of the people at the trial on which Nick Cassavetes bases his film “Alpha Dog.”

            Changing names and locations to protect the innocent, Cassavetes presents on film what he received from the trial transcripts, the district attorney and personal conversations with the families.  What he presents is a moment in time when a group of young people who were living a privileged decadence confronted an evil that overtook them.  Even the ones who lived on the fringes of this group and had nothing to do with the murder had their lives imprisoned as justice attempted to find its place in this horrendous event.

            The family at the center of this evil is the Trueloves.  From grandfather Cosmo (Harry Dean Stanton) to father Sonny (Bruce Willis) to grandson Johnny (Emile Hirsch), the family business is clearly illegal and immoral.  The disrespect for women spoken and acted out within this family and within the film is overwhelming. 

            As the “top dog” of his group of friends, young Johnny attempts to gain his place in his father’s heart and in the world by dealing drugs.  His best friend, Frankie (Justin Timberlake) and his mentally-deficient patsy, Elvis (Shawn Hatosy) are part of a larger group of people whose irreverence for each other, their ladies and the world is a bravado that is accentuated when they make fun of gansta rap for “not being real.”

            Into this group comes an unstable addict, Jake (Ben Foster), whose sociopathic life has isolated him from his father and step mother but gained him the admiration of his 15-year-old brother, Zack (Anton Yelchin).  It is the life of Jake that gets his younger brother Zack into trouble.

            Angry that Jake owes him money and has vandalized his home, Johnny goes looking for him and finds Zack instead.  In a moment of vengeance that has no plan or purpose, he kidnaps Zack and hides him out in a nearby town at the home of Frankie’s father.  It is then that events unfold that take on a surreal quality.

            Treated more like a guest than a kidnap victim, Zack is invited into the party scene in this new town by the friends of Frankie.  Nicknamed “stolen boy,” no one takes this situation seriously and they willingly share their drugs, alcohol and sex with him.  But the unthinkable occurs when Johnny hears his father’s lawyer’s words of counsel as telling him to dig a big hole and bury his “problem,” Johnny sends Elvis to kill Zack.  Foolish and confused, drugged and compliant, Zack’s young life is senselessly and violently taken.

            Though the film ends here and only explains the sentences given and the trial that will soon take place for Johnny, the degradation of the film gives a dark insight into the party culture that many affluent children live.  From their parents; lifestyles which model the same, to the music culture that glorifies violence and dishonors women, our young live lives vulnerable to an evil that can destroy them.  The message of the film is clear as it is stated by Sonny Truelove in the opening “interview” by the filmmaker: it is all about parents.  If we do not protect our young from this culture then we will see more violence perpetrated by soulless “alpha dogs” somewhere.

 

Discussion:

1. The court sentenced Elvis to death.  The court has yet to try Johnny.  Do you agree with the death penalty in any situation?  If so, do you think it is appropriate for Elvis?  If this film is accurate in saying that Johnny told Elvis to kill Zack, do you believe he should also get the death penalty?  Why or why not?

 

2. Some of the young people who were only present in this event to get high on drugs, alcohol and sex were minors and did not know Johnny or Elvis or participate in the murder.  What do you believe was their culpability for not telling adults and/or the police about the “stolen boy?”

 

3. The evil that comes from some music videos as shown in the film encourage violence and calling women degrading names and treating them like objects.  What do you believe will be their effect on young people who watch and listen to them?  Is there any way that adults can protect our children from a culture that declares such degradation “protected free speech?”