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Based on the real-life Jesse James Hollywood case Alpha Dog follows a misguided gang of Californian teens whose kidnap of an innocent over a measly $1,200 of drug money ends up turning nasty.  In typical Dragnet style Nick Cassavetes changes the names of those involved "to protect the innocent" so the central perpetrator goes from Jesse James to spoilt, vacant Johnny Truelove (Hirsch), a drug dealing kingpin forced to act when threatened by the psychotic Jake Mazursky (Foster) or loose the respect of the similarly spoilt, vacant rich kids who orbit around him.  The kidnapping of Jake's younger brother Zack (Yelchin) starts out as an almost ill-conceived prank but when Truelove realises he could face life in prison fear leads him to order the killing of their captive, a mistake that will lead to Truelove becoming the youngest person to feature on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.

Throughout the film Truelove becomes of less significance and instead Cassavetes concentrates on the decadent lifestyle that his gang lead, largely seen through the wide, innocent eyes of Zack whose few days of being a hostage quickly become a blur of video games, parties, drugs and nubile girls who find his predicament "hot".  Playing host to Zack's whirlwind induction into adulthood is the most charismatic of Truelove's motley crew; Frankie, an easy-going and funny Justin Timberlake.  With Zack trying to escape a mothering Sharon Stone it's a quick seduction and while Cassavetes wallows in this side of the tale in an overlong mid-section it is expertly played out by a group of up-and-coming young stars, making the doomed ending that much more painful to watch.

What hinders this crime thriller for the MTV generation is that for its target audience the story doesn't cut to the chase quick enough.  Instead Cassavetes relies on the Crimewatch 'reconstruction' approach, making full use of the statements and evidence he had privileged access to, so there's the occasional subtitle pointing out the witnesses along the way to remind the audience that, eventually, something will happen.  The director is more taken by the themes of parenting gone bad and concentrates on the fact that everyone, including new best bud Frankie, let Zack down and presents a very modern dilemma where adults are too busy leading their own debauched lifestyles to worry about what their kids are doing.

Due to Cassavetes' diversions Truelove never becomes a suitably impressive villain and certainly not one to trouble the FBI.  Reappearing late in the film, the ending appears to be added for the sake of completion following the arrest of his real-life counterpart during filming.  The real crime however is the waste of Foster's delightfully bonkers Jake who displays lethal moves at a party punch-up on the hunt for Zack but after his impotent rage on the phone to Truelove ("I will hunt you down�hello?  Hello?!") he vanishes from the story.

Like the recent A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Cassavetes employs Hollywood big guns to prop-up his youthful cast and Alpha Dog is similarly let down by the star heavy equation.  Bruce Willis does little except turn-up with 'bad parent' written all over him while Stone cries, screeches and does her best to properly 'act' through every scene, culminating in a disturbing, fat-suited finale despite Eddie Murphy's constant proof that they are a benefit to no-one.  But ignoring the billboard posing and lengthy running time, Cassavetes does a solid job in showing a disaffected generation brought up by TV, games and the pursuit of money, hoping for a gangster's paradise and finding only the sledgehammer consequences of real-life.  Not just for screaming Timberlake groupies, Alpha Dog is a chance for adults to see what their kids might be doing while they're away at the cinema or at least find out what they see in that shaved pop-monkey anyway.