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ShareSAN FRANCISCO—A debt, averted eyes and a kidnapping gone horribly wrong.
The story of “Alpha Dog,” says director Nick Cassavetes, came together through a “perfect storm of circumstance.”
Cassavetes—son of filmmaker John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands—wrote and directed “Alpha Dog,” which opens Friday. The movie stars Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone and is based on the true story of Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer whose role in a 2000 kidnapping and murder made him one of the youngest men to ever make the FBI’s most-wanted list.
The names and several identifying details have been changed for the film, but the crux of the story remains the same.
“Alpha Dog” unfolds over three hot summer days in Los Angeles and tells of what happens after dealer Johnny Truelove (Hirsch) kidnaps Zack, a teen-aged boy (Anton Yelchin), as a way to extort money from his brother (Ben Foster).
Zack initially thinks of his kidnapping as a thrilling adventure, and looks up to Frankie, his appointed handler (Timberlake). The final turn of events, however, is chilling.
Cassavetes, perhaps best known for his weepy 2004 blockbuster “The Notebook,” says that in many ways, the chords he hit in “Alpha Dog” are universal. Indeed, he even recognized parts of himself in the bleak, bittersweet drama.
“I’m 47 and, growing up, it wasn’t too much different,” says the L.A.-based director, here to discuss his new film. “That’s something that struck me—that very weird period of adjustment between youth and adulthood. The applications are all different, but it’s still the same story.”
Cassavetes, whose two teenage daughters attended the same school as the real-life victim, says he took on the project as part of a personal quest for answers.
“We live in a very modern world—it’s affluent and technologically advanced, and what exactly does all that mean?” he says, fidgeting with his Diet Coke.
What it means, the director eventually concluded, is that a wealth of money and material goods (think designer clothes, PlayStations and Hummers), coupled with too much free time and a lack of parental direction is potentially fatal. At best, he says, such conditions will stunt a teen’s emotional and creative growth.
“It’s not necessarily to blame the parents, but children are left to fend for themselves at an earlier age,” Cassavetes says.
“You leave (young people) alone to make their decisions and they’re usually terrible at it—you get a bunch of them together and they’re even worse.”
True, but even at their lowest moments, the film’s characters manage to evoke compassion.
“I feel sympathy for all of them—I’ve been all of those kids,” Cassavetes agrees.
What affected him the most, Cassavetes adds, is just how many people had had the chance to save Zack.
That point is underscored throughout the film, as an on-screen ticker counts off the nearly four dozen people who came in contact with Zack and his kidnappers during the boy’s 72-hour ordeal.
And the person with the most power to rescue Zack was his biggest ally and, ultimately, his biggest betrayer.
Still, as played by Timberlake, it’s easy to see why Zack admires Frankie. He exudes a beguiling, laid-back charm that is, at first, comforting.
“The kid put his trust in Frankie, who (maybe) really didn’t know what was going to happen or was hoping someone would come along and save the day,” Cassavetes says. “It’s a fascinating dynamic.”
The director credits Timberlake for infusing the character with such charisma.
“Justin was just Justin, and that’s hard to describe, but when you’re with him, you just like to watch him,” he says. “But at the end of the day he was very much a team player.”
The idea of approaching a film as a collaborative effort was key to him, Cassavetes says. Making a film, he says, is about sacrifices and a constant push-pull between logic and style.
“It’s the paradox of being a filmmaker. Sometimes you have to give up everything—dialogue, scenes, lighting—so that the people in your films can move around naturally,” he says.
Although it’s easy to imagine that Cassavetes learned a lot about filmmaking from his father—the late actor-director-writer is still considered a pioneer for such films as “A Woman Under the Influence” and “Love Streams”—their relationship was largely personal, not professional.
“He was a monumental figure in my life, but not for filmmaking,” says Cassavetes of his father, who died in 1989.
“What I learned from him was how to be a man in this crazy world (and) so far, I haven’t made anything as good as one of his movies.
“We’re all just storytellers,” he continues. “If we feel something is right and worth saying, like with `Alpha Dog,’ then we have the responsibility to tell it.”
