Top 10 box office for Jan. 12-14
Updated 1/14/2007 3:44 PM ET
How did new films fare at the box office this weekend?
This Week Title
1 Stomp the Yard
Weekend gross: $22M
2 Night at the Museum
Weekend gross: $17.1M
3 Pursuit of Happyness
Weekend gross: $9.1M
4 Dreamgirls
Weekend gross: $8.1M
5 Freedom Writers
Weekend gross: $7.1M
6 Children of Men
Weekend gross: $6.4M
7 Alpha Dog
Weekend gross: $6.1M
8 Primeval (not reviewed)
Weekend gross: $6M
9 Arthur and the Invisibles (not reviewed)
Weekend gross: $4.3M
10 The Good Shepherd
Weekend gross: $3.9M
By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY
Don't be fooled by the presence of some pretty-boy actors: Alpha Dog is a gritty, gut-wrenching and disturbing film.
Based on the true story of a horrific crime committed in 1999 by a group of spoiled suburban teens, this ensemble drama is riveting, well crafted and sharply acted. (An attempt to halt release of the movie by the ringleader failed this week.)
Most noteworthy are performances by Ben Foster as the speed freak skinhead Jake, played with scary, tweaked-out ferocity, and the heartbreakingly endearing Anton Yelchin as Jake's impressionable 15-year-old brother, Zack, who is eager to break out from the watchful eye of his protective mother (an excellent Sharon Stone). He is the film's emotional center.
Justin Timberlake has shown a talent for comedy in his Saturday Night Live appearances, and here he reveals impressive dramatic ability. Timberlake plays Frankie, a tattooed love boy with a decent heart and a surplus of bravado.
The criminal ringleader is Johnny Truelove, an egomaniacal pot dealer played with fierce intensity by Emile Hirsch. He is the cocky son of a father with ties to organized crime (Bruce Willis). Jake owes Johnny $1,200 in drug money, and Johnny impulsively kidnaps Zack as payback. Johnny, Frankie and their sycophant buddy, Elvis (Shawn Hatosy), have no specific ransom scheme, and the trusting Zack doesn't feel threatened. Besides, he's distracted by the party atmosphere: booze, babes and video games abound.
But when Johnny settles on a half-baked plan, you viscerally feel — and dread — the imminence of tragedy. It's a testament to writer/director Nick Cassavetes' filmmaking skills that viewers already may know how the film will end and yet still feel emotionally shattered by its conclusion. Cassavetes periodically interrupts the story with a documentary-style "interview." The intrusions sometimes work but also can be jarring.
Alpha Dog is almost a sociological study of a youthful culture awash in freedom and steeped in violence, drugs, casual sex and offensive language. It also shines a light on parents who have abdicated their positions of guidance and discipline.
The movie opens with children playing sweetly, accompanied by a tender rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The sense of lost innocence is underscored when Willis' character, being interviewed, deflects questions about his son's role in the crime with the haunting statement: "Some could say this was all about guns and disaffected youth. But it's about parenting."
It's about all those things, as well as the widespread glamorizing of criminal culture. The film avoids exploiting that world and reveals the devastating consequences that come from glorifying violence.
Updated 1/14/2007 3:44 PM ET
How did new films fare at the box office this weekend?
This Week Title
1 Stomp the Yard
Weekend gross: $22M
2 Night at the Museum
Weekend gross: $17.1M
3 Pursuit of Happyness
Weekend gross: $9.1M
4 Dreamgirls
Weekend gross: $8.1M
5 Freedom Writers
Weekend gross: $7.1M
6 Children of Men
Weekend gross: $6.4M
7 Alpha Dog
Weekend gross: $6.1M
8 Primeval (not reviewed)
Weekend gross: $6M
9 Arthur and the Invisibles (not reviewed)
Weekend gross: $4.3M
10 The Good Shepherd
Weekend gross: $3.9M
By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY
Don't be fooled by the presence of some pretty-boy actors: Alpha Dog is a gritty, gut-wrenching and disturbing film.
Based on the true story of a horrific crime committed in 1999 by a group of spoiled suburban teens, this ensemble drama is riveting, well crafted and sharply acted. (An attempt to halt release of the movie by the ringleader failed this week.)
Most noteworthy are performances by Ben Foster as the speed freak skinhead Jake, played with scary, tweaked-out ferocity, and the heartbreakingly endearing Anton Yelchin as Jake's impressionable 15-year-old brother, Zack, who is eager to break out from the watchful eye of his protective mother (an excellent Sharon Stone). He is the film's emotional center.
Justin Timberlake has shown a talent for comedy in his Saturday Night Live appearances, and here he reveals impressive dramatic ability. Timberlake plays Frankie, a tattooed love boy with a decent heart and a surplus of bravado.
The criminal ringleader is Johnny Truelove, an egomaniacal pot dealer played with fierce intensity by Emile Hirsch. He is the cocky son of a father with ties to organized crime (Bruce Willis). Jake owes Johnny $1,200 in drug money, and Johnny impulsively kidnaps Zack as payback. Johnny, Frankie and their sycophant buddy, Elvis (Shawn Hatosy), have no specific ransom scheme, and the trusting Zack doesn't feel threatened. Besides, he's distracted by the party atmosphere: booze, babes and video games abound.
But when Johnny settles on a half-baked plan, you viscerally feel — and dread — the imminence of tragedy. It's a testament to writer/director Nick Cassavetes' filmmaking skills that viewers already may know how the film will end and yet still feel emotionally shattered by its conclusion. Cassavetes periodically interrupts the story with a documentary-style "interview." The intrusions sometimes work but also can be jarring.
Alpha Dog is almost a sociological study of a youthful culture awash in freedom and steeped in violence, drugs, casual sex and offensive language. It also shines a light on parents who have abdicated their positions of guidance and discipline.
The movie opens with children playing sweetly, accompanied by a tender rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The sense of lost innocence is underscored when Willis' character, being interviewed, deflects questions about his son's role in the crime with the haunting statement: "Some could say this was all about guns and disaffected youth. But it's about parenting."
It's about all those things, as well as the widespread glamorizing of criminal culture. The film avoids exploiting that world and reveals the devastating consequences that come from glorifying violence.
