Ill-Informed Gadfly

Murder most foul: From Edgar Allan Poe to “CSI,” the act of killing a human being has been characterized in fiction as a sinister deed, performed with brilliant calculation and leaving behind a puzzle to solve. “Alpha Dog” knows better. This squalid, entertaining and sometimes insightful movie depicts murder most banal: as the accidental consequence of half-witted plans. Oh, and it’s a cinch to figure out whodunit. In a droll touch, writer-director Nick Cassavetes keeps a running tally of the literally dozens of people who witness the kidnapping of a 15-year-old Southern California boy by a gang of not-much-older drug dealers. Based on the case of Jesse James Hollywood, who at 20 became the youngest fugitive on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, “Alpha Dog” persuasively depicts a rudderless suburban culture of easy money, partying and macho posturing. What it can’t provide is a hero who lives up to the title. The underwhelming Emile Hirsch stars as Hollywood, renamed Johnny Truelove for the movie, and it’s hard to buy him as a leader of boys or men, despite the knowledge he’s accrued as a third-generation crook. Justin Timberlake, as Johnny’s fun-loving sidekick, makes a far more authentic hood, as does Ben Foster as the deranged meth addict whose feud with Johnny leads to the kidnapping of his younger brother. Like all the criminal activity in “Alpha Dog,” the abduction is haphazard and sloppy – motivated not by evil, but by convenience.

LISTEN: Alpha Dog