Alpha Dog - Historical Accuracy

Historical Accuracy

While the movie does exploit the drug use and marijuana operation of "Johnny Truelove" aka Jesse James Hollywood it does ring true with the actual story. Hollywood with the help of his father was selling marijuana and he did bring in high school friends to assist with the operation. Ryan Hoyt the basis for the character of "Elvis" was in debt to Hollywood and was described as a "loose cannon" who wanted to impress his friend and stay in his good graces as he owed Hollywood 1000 dollars as portrayed in the movie. He is described as the whipping boy of the group who was constantly insulted and made fun of which the movie accurately portrays. As seen in the beginning of the movie, if you didn't have Hollywood's money you were his servant working off a debt. The group may have also feared Hollywood's father although it is not known if they knew his involvement and to what degree.

Even witnesses who saw Nick Markowitz aka Zack Mazursky felt that while he was being held against his will he was privy to the situation and wanted to stay so not to further cause issue for his older brother Ben Markowitz aka Jake Mazurzky. They even went as far as referring to him as "Stolen Boy". It is believed that the situation started off as a spur of the moment opportunity as they were driving to deal with the debt of Ben and happened to see Nick who was running away from home at the time. Even parents of witnesses who saw the group felt Nick was part of the group and didn't see anything wrong. This has caused some criticism mainly because it was well known to at least 20 or so of the 38 witnesses that he was there not by his own will yet they did not act to help or bring in the authorities. As seen in the movie Hollywood was only present in the early stages of this crime and the party scene where he is seen talking to and assuring Nick may not have actually happened.

There is some debate as to where the idea came from to murder the boy with one side being that Hollywood's lackey aka Ryan Hoyt took it upon himself to handle the situation so he could prove to him his loyalty and commitment. Hollywood was not present for a majority of the crime and it is debated whether or not he made the decision to murder him or dealt with the consequences once it was too late. The movie portrays him as the mastermind with the other boys not making a move without his word. As seen in the movie Hollywood did meet with a lawyer using the cover that his friends had done something and he wanted to know how much trouble they were in. Until that point it is believed that the group were under the impression he would be sent home safely but after the lawyer explained to Hollywood they were looking at life he panicked and decided the kid was a liability.

While the film portrays Ben Markowitz aka Jake Mazursky accurately as one of Hollywood's more violent associates, and the heated falling out the two had, the movie shows Jake Mazursky going on a manhunt for Truelove and threatening him over the phone. In reality, Ben Markowitz was not aware of his brother's kidnapping until after Nicholas was ultimately murdered, thus Jake's fight with the partygoers and the phone call to Johnny was made for the movie.