Alpha Dog stars Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, and that kid from Into the Wild … what’s his name anyhow? I think it’s Emile Hirsch.

I remember when this movie was out in theaters, it was very short lived but I heard such great things about it. That sticks out in my mind because I kept thinking to myself, “Seriously? That movie with Justin Timberlake in it was good? Seriously?” When it came up in the list for Cinemax On Demand while I was trying to relax and sit with my swollen foot propped up I decided to find out for myself if it was any good. I was not disappointed.

Teenage drug dealers acting stupid and bragging about things that don’t even matter. A lot of goofing off and then suddenly there’s a glitch in the plan. Same old story, someone owes someone else money for drugs that someone else got… a deal gone awry. They yell, they fight, there’s a lot of broken glass and some girly hair pulling then Truelove (our main drug dealer and in the movie) pulls a gun. This puts into light the crazy reality that these are teenagers with their own 4 bedroom houses, plasma tvs, fancy tv and speaker mount setups and cars no kid should be able to afford even in LA.

Being teenagers and stupid they thought it would be funny to kidnap the little brother of the guy that owed them money. This is where our story has truly begun. The kid was basically in the middle of running away from home after getting caught with a weed bong by his parents when they sprung on him and stuffed him in the back of the van. When they realize he’s not going anywhere they let him hang out with them and have fun, meeting girls, playing video games, partying it up. Then the drug leader Johnny Truelove decides the plan has gone bad and they’re all in trouble for kidnapping this kid, reality sinks in and something has to be done. But, what? Do they let him go home as if nothing happened?

There is no slow point in this movie. The pace is perfect and the story progresses and keeps you interested. Hanging on what these kids are up to, feeling the emotion in every moment. And if you’re getting old like me and a sad movie grabs you and chews your emotions to bits and then spits them back out into a kleenex, I’ll warn you ahead of time that the ending of this movie is very, very sad. SAD ending warning. I don’t want to give big spoilers though.

On my movie rating scale this movie gets 4 out 5 stars. You will come to find that I don’t often give a full 5 stars, so this is damn good rating coming from me. I’ll be honest, I was totally surprised by this movie. I expected it to be just okay, and instead I was emotionally jarred by it.

They grew up together in the suburbs of LA, living their own version of the American dream, with every day a blur of partying and looking for the next thrill. Johnny is the leader in their sordid world of drugs, greed, power and privilege. But when he is double-crossed by another dealer, things quickly begin to spiral out of control, and an impulsive kidnapping leads to a shocking conclusion. Justin Timberlake , Sharon Stone and Bruce Willis co-star in this powerful and controversial film.

Stay tuned for another movie next Monday. Feel free to suggest movies in the comments section as well. If you’ve seen Alpha Dog, then leave a comment and let me know what you thought of this movie as well.

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