You ever have that dream: the one where you did something... You don't know why, but you can never go back?
Alpha Dog is a filmic interpretation of the real life Jesse James Hollywood/Nicholas Markowitz case of 2000.
We are in the company of young dope dealers, a group of wannabe gangsters who ultimately are way out of their depth, whose decisions are so moronically misguided they form the basis for what is the tragedy of this story. Directed by Nick Cassavetes, the pic has serious intentions but never quite gets to reach the greatest heights for dramatic verve purpose. Yet for all that, after being in the company of genuine lost boys and girls, watching them as 24 hour party people bluster for majority of the piece, it means that once the tragedy strikes the film has done its job. It becomes something to last in the memory, where Cassavetes' flashy techniques (split-screens - freeze frames etc) don't detract from the harsh reality of it all. There's a bunch of committed exuberant performances on show, with a roll call of then up and coming young actors to note. 7/10