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So-so

Avg. Critic Score: 53 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

not for kids

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

75

USA Today | Claudia Puig
Don't be fooled by the presence of some pretty-boy actors: Alpha Dog is a gritty, gut-wrenching and disturbing film. Read full review
70

Washington Post | Stephen Hunter
The movie suffers from an uncertain structure, but it boasts an extraordinary naturalism, not particularly flattering. Sharon Stone has a brilliant, harsh turn as Zack's mom, and both Bruce Willis and Harry Dean Stanton have good turns as the elder generations of Trueloves. But the movie belongs to its youngsters, and it's a real eye-opener. Read full review
63

Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea
There's more voyeurism going on here, and less insight into a certain culture (the young and the wasted), than the filmmakers would probably admit to, but the performances are scarily real, and the outcome, well, is just scary. Read full review
60

Variety | Justin Chang
Writer-director Nick Cassavetes' sprawling dramatization recklessly blurs the line between reconstruction and reality in ways that are admittedly interesting, if more than a little artistically suspect. Read full review
50

San Francisco Chronicle | Ruthe Stein
The whole thing is dizzying, like "Moulin Rouge" without songs and dances extolling love. Read full review
50

Rolling Stone | Peter Travers
Timberlake walks off with the movie. Too bad it's not worth stealing. Read full review
50

Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum
Cassavetes throws in everything he can recycle to grab a core-demo viewer -- slutty teens making out, blaring rock music, guns, split screens. Read full review
50

The New York Times | Manohla Dargis
The cretins rule in Alpha Dog, which has much the same entertainment value you get from watching monkeys fling scat at one another in a zoo or reading the latest issue of Star magazine. Of course a little of that nasty stuff may land on you, but such are the perils of voyeurism. Read full review
50

Boston Globe | Wesley Morris
As it escalates to a nasty conclusion, Alpha Dog doesn't have the moral or emotional weight of tragedy. These aren't the psychologically exploded youths of "Rebel Without a Cause," or even "The Outsiders." They're characters in a long, violent, unbleeped episode of MTV's "Cribs." Read full review
40

Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust
In a film with several over-the-top characters bordering on camp, Timberlake's Frankie is the only one who approaches three dimensions, adept at convincingly dishing out some of the movie's disturbing violence as well as registering subtle shifts in Frankie's allegiance. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Alpha Dog on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says not for kids Timberlake stars in fact-based drug drama.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie is a focuses on older teens and twentysomethings who do and deal drugs (some encouraged by parents who also smoke pot), have sex, drink, smoke, lie, and cheat. There is a lot of violence, including shootings, fights, bloody injuries, a nasty broken arm (it cracks loudly), kicks, a boy knocking girls to the ground, a "crew" destroying an enemy's home, and a murder in which the duct-taped victim tearfully begs to be spared. Sex scenes (in bed and in a pool) show naked bottoms and breasts (one father invites his son to join him and the two women he's with). Language includes hundreds of "f--k"s, plus other familiar obscenities and racist, sexist, and homophobic terms.

Families can talk about the idea of bad parenting as a theme of the movie. How are the parents in the movie ineffective? How does the younger characters' behavior (violence, sex, drug use) reflect what they see on television and in their own homes? Do they have any other options? Do those options change after the kidnapping? How would you describe the characters' goals? How do the girls and young women respond differently (compare, for instance, Julie and Susan)? Do you think starring in a movie like this will affect Justin Timberlake's reputation/popularity? Why do you think he decided to take the part?

The good stuff

Positive messages: Kids and young people are careless, mean-spirited, and selfish, as well as drug addicts; adults remain self-absorbed, remote, and angry, serving as poor role models; the story is inspired by the real-life kidnapping and murder of one addict's 15-year-old brother and the apathy of more than 30 witnesses.

What to watch for

Violence: Repeated graphic violence; graphic shooting in rap music videos (blood spurts from victims' chests); fights involve breaking glass table/windows, bloody injuries, broken arm, kicks to crotches, a boy punching out girls; a "crew" breaks into "enemy"'s home and destroys furniture, TV, etc. (one boy defecates on a rug); murder victim-to-be is shown begging for his life and is then shot anyway (blood all over ground); mother discusses three suicide attempts.
Sex: Sexual slang ("you chasin' tail?", "faggot," "p--sy"); frequent references to sex acts ("suck c--k," "dildo up the ass"); several sex acts (in bed, threesome kissing in pool); a girl's tatoo features naked breasts; sex scenes in the pool and in bed show naked breasts and bottoms; man entwined on sofa with two women in underwear; mother appears at door in sheet, telling her daughter to leave her alone so "I can screw your father."
Language: Relentless language, including "f--k" (about 300 uses, several with "mother"); "s--t" (20), multiple uses of "faggot," "hell," "c--ksuckers," "d---wad," and "bastard," plus two uses each of "spook" (in reference to blacks/slaves) and the "N" word; one use of "c--t."
Consumerism: Beer logos visible at convenience store; Members Only jacket; Outbacks Steakhouse, Scarface poster in bedroom.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Frequent drinking (mostly beer) by young adults, as well as 15-year-old boy; bongs visible and in use; several scenes chow characters drunk and behaving badly (sexual aggression, passing out); frequent pot-smoking and preparation (one character's father grows marijuana in his garden alongside organic vegetables); mother tells her daughter, "I'm ex-ing" cigarette smoking in nearly every scene (when 15-year-old Jake demurs, Frankie encourages him, "It's good for you"); central characters also deal drugs; Jake appears high (on some form of speed/crack) in several scenes.

Common Sense Media An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.