Alpha Dog: Tödliche Freundschaften

Eine Rekonstruktion einer Teenager-Tragödie, so ähnlich wie Van Sants Elephant. Der Film wurde aber traditionell gedreht und er verlässt sich auf Emotionen und Sentiment (das ist halt Cassavetes). Das Wichtigste sind aber die Schauspieler*innen –⁠ Emile Hirsch und Ben Foster sind ausgezeichnet, Justin Timberlake und der entführte Anton Yelchin haben nichts vergeigt. Die Gespräche mit den "echten Eltern" am Ende verringern aber die Authentizität und die Glaubwürdigkeit des Films (die dicke und übertreibende Sharon Stone ist fürchterlich!). (11.01.2009)

Adequately uncompromising and rough, and at times unfortunately a bit exaggerated. All the flaws in pacing and unnecessary flood of "fucks" are compensated for by an excellent ensemble cast led by the demigod Hirsch and the madman Foster. However, I cannot avoid criticism even here. Famous names are not always beneficial, Alpha Dog is most hurt by the slightly clumsy Timberlake and especially the unbelievable Sharon Stone, whose hysteria at the end made me painfully embarrassed. My fortune lies in the fact that I don’t mind knowing the ending from the beginning and that I can enjoy the atmosphere of hot cats and ruthless tough guys. This piece is packed to bursting with it. (12.07.2007)

Quite an interesting film addition. Although Cassavetes indulges in a brutally large number of “fucks” and blatantly tries to serve us the rawest story of youth, some aspects are beautifully captured. For example, the verbal shootouts and the unbelievably raw personal conflicts and fights in general. Surprisingly, the actors are also fantastic. Justin Timberlake and especially Ben Foster, whose character is played brilliantly. Don't expect a plot-driven ride, but the rawness and attractive pace will definitely not make you press the stop button. (15.10.2008)

Films based on real events have one major disadvantage. People generally look at them a bit differently. If the story itself is emotional, filmmakers usually take advantage of this fact and try to emotionally impress the viewer. This is how the film "Síla srdce" affected me. On the other hand, it may happen that filmmakers are so sure of what they are shooting that they add very little to it because they think the film will speak for itself. Not much extra is added to the film, even though not much actually happened. This is exactly the problem with the film "Alpha Dog". More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/02/alpha-dog-2006-55.html (09.04.2013)