Better Late Than Never? Not Really.
Review by Kim Cantrell
I realize I’m a little behind the times. After all, Alpha Dog was released in January 2007.
Three and a half years later, I finally watched it.
Even though I knew it was based on a true crime, I just never watched it. I’m not a fan of Justin Timberlake and many of the previews I saw featured him, so it was a total turn-off to even consider watching.
But after reading Susan Markowitz’s recently published book which is promoted as “The Real Story Behind the Alpha Dog Movie,” I set aside my prejudices and rented the movie.
Alpha Dog tells the story of 15-year-old Zack Mazursky who is kidnapped by his older brother Jake’s drug supplier and held for ransom.
While Zack is held hostage, he become friends with one of his captors, Frankie Ballenbacher. Allowed to play video games, smoke marijuana, drink alcohol, and just generally party, Zack isn’t feeling any danger and is willing to “ride it out” until his brother pays his debts.
But when Johnny Truelove finds out he could do life in prison for kidnapping the kid, he feels there is only one way out: murder.
Frankie and another Truelove flunky, Elvis Schmidt, take Zack to a desolate location, where a grave has already been dug.
When you have 38 witnesses to the kidnapping, however, it’s hard to keep things a secret.
Based on the true life story of Nick Markowitz, Alpha Dog is one of a handful of true crime movies to be released before the trials of all parties involved. As a matter of fact, the movie was finished and ready for release right before Jesse James Hollywood (known as Johnny Truelove in the movie) was captured.
This movie got great reviews at Amazon, so I have to assume it’s considered to be a “must watch” film. However, since I read the book first, I found the movie to be skimpy on details and full of too much creative licensing.
And -
This is going to make me sound like a prude, but I grew tired of every other word being the F-bomb. I’ve said my (more than) fair share of “ugly words” (as my mother called them) but when a script uses them to punctuate every sentence, it’s really annoying. (So what if the real people talked like that? I would have thought them annoying too!)
But then again, it’s Hollywood. What else can we expect?
Well, here’s my thoughts: if you want to know what really happened, every nitty gritty detail, read My Stolen Son by Susan Markowitz, Nick’s mother. She tells everything, the way it was – right down to her own mistakes leading up to and after Nick’s murder.
If you like summarized, mostly fictionalized accounts of stories based on real cases, then watch Alpha Dog. Otherwise, stick with the real stuff and read the book instead.
Want to watch it? Here’s where you can get it:
