4.5 stars out of 5

It’s really too bad that Justin Timberlake was in this movie. It’s weird too, because I actually thought he did a pretty decent job in his theatrical debut (his actual acting debut, Edison Force, went straight to DVD). It is too bad that he was in this movie, though, because all of the huge buzz that surrounded it as “Timberlake’s big movie.” Those who don’t like Timberlake obviously ignored the flick and those who like Timberlake either were too young to get into the R-rated flick or were probably too shocked or surprised at this sort of vehicle for the pop star. It received mixed reviews and a piddly box office take of just $15.1 million. I’m not sure if this would’ve all been reversed if Timberlake had not been cast here as Frankie Ballenbacher, sidekick to Emile Hirsch’s Johnny Truelove… but if he hadn’t been cast, there certainly might have been a different focus to the flick.

This flick is based on the true story of Jesse James Hollywood, whose name was changed to Johnny Truelove for the movie. I’m serious. That’s his real name, and that real person was the youngest person ever to be listed on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list. At the start of this obscenity-laced little story, Truelove is living a twisted version of the American Dream. He’s a drug runner, operating under the mysterious wing of his father (Bruce Willis) and living a gangster-ish lifestyle in the burbs of L.A. He himself has men under his wing, some of whom he demeans regularly like Shawn Hatosy’s Elvis and Truelove and his crew all operate with the delusional lunacy of youth that their invincible. They chastise the music videos from rappers who claim to be gangster but aren’t really in the life, even though they really aren’t either. This little world starts to turn upside down for Truelove and his crew when a strung-out dealer named Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster, in a marvelous turn) gets into it with Truelove. After Mazursky vandalizes Truelove’s house, in a random move, he spots Mazursky’s younger brother, Zach (Anton Yelchin, in a breakthrough role) and up and decides to kidnap him. What follows from there is a wonderfully crass tale of misguided youth rife with conflict, insecurities and flaring emotions and the contrasting worlds of suburbia and the underworld.

This is a movie that doesn’t pull any punches… or words, for that matter. The “F-word” and derivations of that word is said 310 times in the movie, according to IMDB. Writer-director Nick Cassavettes lets you know where you are and what kind of people you’re dealing with here, and it never strays from that. It does let you know that these young men with Truelove and his enemies, with all their bravado and gangsta slang, are just as insecure as anyone else, perhaps even moreso. Cassavettes contrasts that nicely with the idyllic rich suburban life that Zach is a part of and is sick of. Zach’s kidnapping is actually a little vacation for Zach, out of the grasp of his parents talons. Cassavettes does give us a solid script, with a great story arc that leads to an unnerving conclusion. It’s a surprisingly powerful movie, one that I’m surprised that didn’t make as much money as it should’ve.

Special Features

We dont’ get much here. We get a featurette called A Cautionary Tale, which is a little 11-minute “making of” deal and there is also a Witness Timeline, which just gives us actual quotes from the actual witness statements. These are pretty useless, though, because Cassavettes captured basically everything they say here on film.