Alpha Dog (HD DVD)

The subtitle to Alpha Dog should be "How many times can you get young teens to say 'fuck' while acting tough?" Truly, this film is over-the-top silly and while the ending really packs a punch if you make it the whole way through it is hard to get over the fact that these young punk Hollywood actors are trying to act hard when they are far from it. The biggest surprises here are just how good Justin Timberlake can be along with Anton Yelchin.

Alpha Dog is based on the true story surrounding Jesse James Hollywood and while the names have been changed and the actual release of the film was delayed due to Hollywood's trial I am assuming writer-director Nick Cassavetes did his best to keep this story accurate. However, when you gather a young group of kids and they have to act tough all in the face of just kidnapping a kid and not knowing how to deal with it you are treading on very thin ice. The potential for problems is high and there are several issues with this film, primarily centered on the idea that these actors just can't pull off their parts.

As I said in the first paragraph there are two redeeming qualities of this film and that is Timberlake as Frankie and Yelchin as Zack, the kidnapping victim. Over the course of the film Frankie and Zack build a relationship of sorts where Zack begins to trust and look up to Frankie, which makes the film watchable and makes the ending of the film actually work. Unlike his part in Black Snake Moan, Timberlake was much better suited for this part in which he seems to fit right into. Unlike the other characters in the film he never seems to try to take it beyond his abilities, it seems real, and coupled with the innocence Yelchin brings to his role it actually does make for some good movie watching.

Considering Alpha Dog didn't do much at the box-office I didn't expect much in the way of special features and there is hardly anything to speak of.

Both the DVD and HD DVD feature the same special features, one of which is a making-of featurette and the other is a "Witness Timeline" which details the number of witnesses that saw certain portions of the crime going down and what they had to say. If you do buy the HD DVD edition you will be able to watch the "Witness Timeline" feature in line with the movie, but it is hardly any reason to run out and buy this disc. However, since the HD DVD does come coupled with the DVD on the flip side, it isn't a horrible investment if you decide to buy this flick.

Personally, I would never recommend anyone watch this movie, unless you are interested in the story or are curious to see Timberlake do a nice bit of acting. The dialogue and the tough guy personas these young actors are asked to carry out just don't work and a few good scenes are hardly worth the purchase. If you must, rent this one, my gut instinct tells me you won't be buying it after that as repeat viewings are highly unlikely.