Alpha Dog

As I watched one of the final scenes in Alpha Dog, a heart-wrenching moment in Palm Springs that depicts a most unfortunate event, I marveled at how well-done it was. The movie had managed to keep my attention to a degree, and this particular scene floored me. Director Nick Cassavetes was doing a decent job of showing white suburban kids acting like idiots. I was impressed. Then Sharon Stone shows up in a fat suit and almost wrecked the movie. Based on a true story about a kidnapping gone terribly wrong, the film is saved by the terrific work of Justin Timberlake as a conflicted criminal and Anton Yelchin as a kidnapping victim. Emile Hirsch is somewhat unconvincing as a crime lord. Still, I liked it enough to say it is see-worthy.