Alpha Dog Pics

Alpha Dog is a 2007 American crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, first screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006, with a wide release the following year on January 12, 2007. The film is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz and related events in 2000. It portrays the involvement of Jesse James Hollywood, a young middle-class drug dealer in California. The film stars Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Foster, Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, Anton Yelchin with Harry Dean Stanton, Sharon Stone and Bruce Willis.

Alpha Dog is based on events that took place in 2000 and characters are given fictional names. The film is set in November 1999. It tells the story of Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch), a young drug dealer in Claremont, California and his circle of friends, which includes Frankie Ballenbacher (Justin Timberlake), Tiko "TKO" Martinez (Fernando Vargas), and Elvis Schmidt (Shawn Hatosy). The film demonstrates internal gang dynamics and social context that contribute to the events leading to kidnapping and murder.

The film starts with all the main characters, suspects, the victim, suspect's family, victim family, etc., as little children, playing around, reminiscing their childhood, when everything was carefree. At the end it shows Zack Mazursky.

The films opens with an interviewer talking to Sonny (Bruce Willis) about his son, Johnny. Sonny is sarcastic and hostile, answering many questions with the phrase "I don't know anything about that."

Johnny's father, Sonny Truelove, supplies his son with marijuana, which Johnny distributes to his gang of friends, including Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster). Jake owes Johnny a $1,200 drug debt. Mazursky makes a failed attempt at asking for the money from his stepmother, Olivia (Sharon Stone) and his biological father Butch (David Thornton). Olivia and Butch are dealing with their own problems in the form of their rebellious son Zack Mazursky (Anton Yelchin, Jake's half-brother who admires his older brother). A fight between Jake and Johnny results in an escalating series of retaliations, which culminates in Johnny, Frankie, and Tiko kidnapping Zack, who they stumble upon while he is walking along the side of the road, just after running away from home.

Wanting a break from his home life, Zack makes little effort to escape. Johnny, meanwhile, pawns Zack off on his right-hand man Frankie, who initially offers him a chance to get away. Zack declines the offer, not wanting to cause any trouble for his brother and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. Zack stays with Frankie at his father's house, does chores, and ingratiates himself with Frankie's friends, including Keith Stratten (Chris Marquette), and Julie (Amanda Seyfried), the youngest member of the group. By this point a number of hangers-on and friends of the gang know of Zack's kidnapping, though only Susan (Dominique Swain) seems concerned about it.

Frankie grows nervous when Johnny hypothetically offers Frankie $2,500 to murder Zack and dispose of his body. Frankie furiously declines and Johnny claims it was a joke. Instead, Johnny agrees to Frankie's plan to pay Zack to keep his mouth shut. However, after a conversation with his lawyer and threatening phone calls from Jake, Johnny decides the risk of ending up in prison or getting killed is too great to let Zack go. Johnny calls Elvis and offers to erase a drug debt if he kills Zack. Meanwhile, at a raucous going-away party, Zack demonstrates his martial arts skills on Frankie, who realizes he could have escaped at any time. Frankie and his friends still believe Zack will be returning home at the end of the night. Zack has a good time, including hooking up with Julie and her friend Alma (Amber Heard) when they were skinny-dipping in the pool. Julie gives Zach her number and Alma gives him a good-bye kiss on the cheek.

Elvis arrives at the hotel where Zack is waiting to be picked up and struggles with Frankie before threatening him with death if he interferes with the hit. Elvis takes Keit