Alpha Dog: a True Crime Story

Anthony Gambina Dr. Wheeler

English 101MA

Alpha Dog: A True Crime Story

According to the morals and standings of twenty nothing year old drug dealer, Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch), a human’s life is only worth twelve hundred dollars. Nick Cassavete portrays the true story of the unordinary kidnapping, and ultimately the murder, of Zach Mazursky (Anton Yelchin), with the help of Truelove’s friends. Johnny’s friend Frankie (Justin Timberlake), gets the responsibility of watching Zach thrown at him unwillingly, and instead of keeping his victim tied up and locked away, he hangs out, smokes weed, and parties with the fifteen year old Zach Mazursky to lighten the responsibility. Shockingly though, this whole situation started over a twelve hundred dollar debt from a marijuana deal gone bad owed to Johnny Truelove, by Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), Zach’s older half brother. Unfortunately, once Johnny Truelove realized the severity of the kidnapping he orchestrated, he ordered his friend Elvis to kill Zach. Writer and director, Nick Cassavete, does an excellent job telling the story of the kidnapping and killing of Zach Mazursky through the dialogue, acting, and character portrayal; though some have criticized the movie to take away the true tragedy of the events, and replacing it with attractive actors and the appeal of an outrageous, youthful, party lifestyle, filled with some comedic and ridiculous dialogue.

Although some criticize the dialogue for being comedic and ridiculous at points, one might feel that it helps develop an emotional attachment between the characters and audience. The dialogue helps the audience really get a good sense of the characters’ true personalities. For example, here is a piece of dialogue that really helps the audience develop an emotional attachment and get a sense of the characters’ personalities. Frankie begins the conversation with Zach by saying, “You want a cigarette?” Zach replies, “No. I don’t...