by Michelle Strozykowski

Created on: January 21, 2008

Alpha Dog was a 2006 movie written and directed by Nick Cassavetes. It starred a host of big name stars, amongst them Bruce Willis, Emile Hirsch, Sharon Stone and a scene stealing Justin Timberlake. The story concerns the fake plastic world of young Californian drug dealers and junkies, playing at being gangsters, like they're in a junior version of Goodfellas. Just like Scorsese's epic, Alpha Dog pulls you into a world where, beyond the facade, real people in difficult situations emerge, and you begin to identify with certain characters.

Alpha Dog was based on real events, and although aspects of the story were changed for the screen, the research behind the script enabled Cassavetes to inject a harrowing realism into the picture. The real life District Attorney for Santa Barbara, Ronald J. Zonen, acted as a consultant during filming, and gave access to all his documents on the real life case, allowing the film-makers to gain an insight into how and why such a truly shocking murder took place in the Californian hills.

The story of Alpha Dog is a sordid affair, centered around drug dealer Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch). As the son of a big time gangster, Sonny Truelove (Bruce Willis), Johnny likes to think of himself as the alpha dog (the main man) within his circle of drug taking/pushing chums. In a misguided effort to prove himself capable within the criminal underworld, Johnny attempts to collect the money he is owed from the thuggish drug addict Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), and so begins a personal war between the two of them. Truelove abducts Jake's younger brother Zach Mazursky (Anton Yelchin) ostensibly to use as leverage, and deposits him at the Palm Springs home of his pal Frankie Ballenbacher (Justin Timberlake). But Frankie and Zach quickly form a bond, and Zach appears to forget he's been kidnapped and instead enjoys hanging out and partying with his new rich buddy. Meanwhile, Johnny discovers he could get a life sentence for kidnapping, and so decides to do away with the boy everyone is searching for. He gets Elvis Schmidt (Shawn Hatosy) one of his much abused lackeys to carry out this despicable crime for him, in return for the writing off of his own debts to Johnny.

The character of Johnny Truelove is based on the real criminal low-life Jesse James Hollywood, who at the time of shooting the film had not been apprehended. This was one of the main reasons Cassavetes wanted to make the film, and is the reason why the names were changed. The murderer Elvis Schmidt was based on Ryan Hoyt who is currently on death row in San Quentin. Frankie Ballenbacher in real life was Jesse Rugge, who is serving a life sentence. The victim Zach Mazursky was based on the tragic Nicholas Markowitz, and his older brother Jake was in real life Benjamin Markowitz.

Jesse James Hollywood was featured on America's Most Wanted in 2004, and was finally arrested by Interpol agents in March 2005, in Brazil where he'd been hiding out for 5 years. He is currently awaiting trial, and if convicted could be facing a death sentence. The film Alpha Dog works hard to present the truth of what happened to Nick Markowitz, revealing how the lifestyle choices of the youth culture it focuses on played a factor in the casual disregard for human life, and how what starts out as a little more than a prank can rapidly escalate in the most distressing manner. The fact is that an innocent 15 year old boy lost his life because the exceedingly rich drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood wanted to collect on a debt of $1,500.

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