Alpha Dog (2006)

I thought this was an interesting case study on how messed up the people are in America. Cinematically, however, I thought this was a weak film. The script was lacking originality (most of it was swearing), the composition was stark, and the actors looked like they were uninspired.
The interesting part of the film, the premise, I think deserves attention though. A kid is kidnapped because his brother owes money to a drug dealer. After a couple of hours the kid decides he'd like to stay with his kidnappers because he feels smothered in his homelife. Most of the film revolves around the conflict of whether the kid should be taken back to his parents, or if he should be allowed to stay and hang out with his kidnappers. The guys he stays with are very nice to him, and they become friends, so it's complicated to say whether he was being held against his will.
In the end (spoiler) the kid is killed because his captors would rather he die than go to prison for kidnapping (which happens anyway).
Now what's interesting in this whole drama is that it illustrated that the tragedy occurred because pretty much everyone was behaving selfishly. The brother who owed the money got his brother in that situation because he couldn't get his act together. The kid remained "kidnapped" because his parents wouldn't let him have a life. The drug dealer loses everything that he had because he didn't treat anyone with respect. And the kidnapped kid gets killed because he milked his shortlived freedom, when he should have returned sooner to his parents.
I think this is a good study on the american way of life. Everyone is looking out for their own back, but by not stepping up to help anyone else, they're screwing themselves over.
I found this interpretation took me some time to come up with because they film doesn't do much for the imagination, it is what it is. It felt very expository, rather than reflexive (I prefer the latter) so you really have to engage yourself in the characters actions to get a sense of why they are doing what they are doing.