Alpha Dog is a movie that is a true story. This is based on 15 year old Nicholas Markowitz being kidnapped and helpd hostage over a drug deal gone wrong. There are three specific actors that I think of that all play very different roles. I think of Zack (the kid that was kidnapped), Frankie (a character involved in the kidnapping of Zack), and Johnny Truelove (the mastermind of the kidnapping and murder of Zack, also the leader of the group).
Anton Yelchin plays Zack Mazursky. This is the boy that was kidnapped and murdered in this film. His type of actor would be the Impersonator. This is because he was not a well known actor until this film, and I think the filmmaker wanted to use someone not recognizable to play the role of the way the boy was in real life. According to chapter five in Film: From watching to seeing (2014), the author states, “When a filmmaker needs a portrayal of a recognizable historical figure, for instance, but doesn’t want to distract the audience by casting a recognizable actor in the role” (p. 5). Some actors have a certain character in all movies. An example of this (not related to this movie) would be Denzel Washington. Anyone that is familiar with Denzel Washington’s acting knows that his characters are always similar. He’s always hard-core and doing the right thing to help people out, and there’s always violence involved. For a role of a kidnapped boy, the filmmaker would not use anyone that could not be portrayed as helpless or innocent. In this film Zack felt trapped and over protected at home by his parents. When he was kidnapped it was not a big deal to him because he was enjoying being around people that knew how to live free and have fun without rules.
Justin Timberlake plays Frankie Ballenbacher aka “Nuts”. He was involved in the kidnapping of Zack. His type of actor would be the Star. A star is a well known person and popular with the public (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P., 2014). Justin Timberlake is a well known star. Not only for acting but mostly for his singing career with NSYNC, and on his own. Justin Timberlake is so much of a star that he is followed by the paparazzi and in tabloids and gossip sites. In this film he played a role that wasn’t really expected at first, but throughout the movie he turned out to be very good friends with the boy Zack, and even told him to run. Zack did not want to run because he trusted Frankie and he was having fun with all the people he had met. Unfortunately, Frankie’s character in this movie did not want to be involved in the kidnapping. They were driving and saw the boy walking and Johnny Truelove decided to take him to get his older brother to pay him the money he owed him.
Emile Hirsch plays Johnny Truelove. He was the mastermind in the kidnapping of Zack and the mastermind behind the murder. He was basically the boss of what happened to the kid; he called all the shots. He had a sort of power because his father was leader of a mob and had many connections with drugs, money, people, and authority figures. In this film he let it get to his head. He would be considered a Wild Card/ Character Actor. This is because he can play a number of very different roles and do a phenomenal job at it, yet he is not quite star status. His role in Into the Wild he is complete opposite of his character in Alpha Dog. Into the Wind he wanted to be alone and do things for himself, while taking in what nature had to offer him.
The one star I want to focus on in Alpha Dog is Justin Timberlake. I am focusing more attention on him because he is the star actor. No matter what movie he is in, he is well known and will always be at least one, if not the only, star actor. One thing about star actors is it guarantees things like attention and publicity (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P., 2014). This says that no matter what star actor is in a film, the film will get attention and publicity, and even have certain expectations. Some of his other films include: In Time, Friends with Benefits, Runner Runner, and The Social Network. In The Social Network he is fairly similar to his character in Alpha Dog because he is very involved with his peers and living a fun, social, normal life, however he still has a big heart and is a smart thinker.
References
Alpha Dog. (2006). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUp56G-rvRk
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
The Social Network. (2010). Movie Clip- I found Napster. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eu9yZ6pWjg
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