Camden New Journal - Movies: Alpha Dogs

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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published: 19 April 2007

Alpha Dog is far too ugly for redemption

ALPHA DOG
Directed by Nick Cassavetes
Certificate 15

FEATURING the kind of low life crawling out from under the dirtiest stones on the block, this crime thriller from Nick (son of John) Cassavetes is centred around a bunch of tattooed, drug-fuelled no-hopers who spend their time slugging beer and shouting profanities at one another.
Who needs it? Young Nick appears to be aping Quentin Tarantino in his efforts to shock and horrify, the twist being that this bunch of punks come from middle-class America, not from trailer trash. Egged on by their leader (Justin Timberlake), they embark on a kidnap plot to snatch a teenage member of the group (Anton Yelchin), with tragic results.
Bruce Willis, complete with a fetching ginger toupee, surfaces as a hardened drug dealer, while Sharon Stone pops up as a possessive mother with a vile temper and a tongue to match.
This is an ugly film about ugly people. If there is one redeeming feature – I must have been looking the other way.

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