Every so often, a film comes along that acts as a social commentary on the status of youth in our society. The 1950s were reflected in Rebel Without A Cause, the 1960s could be summed up with The Outsiders or American Graffiti, and the 1970s with Dazed and Confused, the 1980s with The Breakfast Club, and finally this generation —— well, could it be a fight between American Pie and Clueless?

Twenty years from now, it is doubtful these films will be considered decent social commentary on teenagers during the 1990s, and Alpha Dog is no different. The problem with Nick Cassavetes’ (John Q, The Notebook) latest film is that it desperately tries to be that movie, and it couldn’t be further from it.

Based on the 1999 true story of Jesse James Hollywood (renamed Johnny Truelove here), the youngest person to ever be on the FBI’s most wanted list, Alpha Dog is a soulless and cynical cautionary tale of a group of teens with too much time and money on their hands. These teens panic when they realize they’re in too deep after kidnapping the kid brother of a fellow thug who owes them money.

Despite the fanfare, Alpha Dog is unintentionally pretentious with its flashy and stylish facade. Scarface posters in the background and the casting of Justin Timberlake shouldn’t be taken as reflections of our times but empty exploitation of the two-dimensional lives of these characters who ultimately fail to connect with audiences.

This is hardly a morality tale since none of the characters (other than perhaps Timberlake) seem to care about results of their actions and instead focus on not ending up in prison.

Cassavetes thinks that by throwing in drugs, sex, violence and harsh language he can connect with an viewers that probably don’t even know they’re watching a true story. Connecting with a time period requires more than these superficial elements, and Alpha Dog fails to explore anything beyond them.

The performances vary but not in the way one might expect. Timberlake turns in a surprisingly good performance as the only character with any morals. Still, the best performance belongs to the great Ben Foster as the drug-adled older brother of the young boy who is kidnapped. Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone only embarrass themselves, while Emile Hirsch is simply miscast as the leader of the gang.

Alpha Dog had the potential to be not only a great movie but a commentary on a decade. But the film is actually a great misstep for Hollywood and one that tries to be something greater than it ever will be.

The film tries too hard to be cool, too hard to be relatable and too hard to be great, and that is its worst crime.