Alpha Dog is two films:
The first is a well-executed opening 90 minutes, establishing intriguing characters and interesting problems/situations.
The second film is the final 20 minutes. It is an amateurish, awkward and unsatisfying 'finale' that looks as though it was handled by a bunch of 18-year-old film school students who couldn't wrap their heads around effects. This is tragic since the performances were so good.
I'm not usually one to let effects drag down a film, but when you can still practically see halos around the actors caused by a green screen it's extremely difficult to take the finale of the film as anything but a joke.
If this is the first review you have read on the film, I do encourage you to watch it and try to get around the finale. It seems like a lot of people manage to do so as the IMDb score is quite high. Personally I do not regret seeing this movie, in fact there are a lot of great moments and well executed beats that will satisfy you.
Either way it was a huge step back for Nick Cassavetes who has made some truly beautiful films in the past. My two cents.
The first is a well-executed opening 90 minutes, establishing intriguing characters and interesting problems/situations.
The second film is the final 20 minutes. It is an amateurish, awkward and unsatisfying 'finale' that looks as though it was handled by a bunch of 18-year-old film school students who couldn't wrap their heads around effects. This is tragic since the performances were so good.
I'm not usually one to let effects drag down a film, but when you can still practically see halos around the actors caused by a green screen it's extremely difficult to take the finale of the film as anything but a joke.
If this is the first review you have read on the film, I do encourage you to watch it and try to get around the finale. It seems like a lot of people manage to do so as the IMDb score is quite high. Personally I do not regret seeing this movie, in fact there are a lot of great moments and well executed beats that will satisfy you.
Either way it was a huge step back for Nick Cassavetes who has made some truly beautiful films in the past. My two cents.
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