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| By Ryan McLelland |
ALPHA MALES EXPERIMENT
Produced by Paul J. Alessi
Executive Produced by Ernie Carswell, Donald Kreindler, Christian Derivel, Dominique Derivel
Written and Directed by Alex Ranarivelo
Ross McCall – Ethan
Paul J. Alessi – Kyle
Amie Barsky – Patricia
Omar Gooding – Russell
Danielle Nicolet – Renee
Partners in Crime / Rated R
Alpha Males Experiment is a fantastic indie dramedy about life and love in Los Angeles. Alpha Males could really be the awesome love child of Jon Favreau’s Swingers and Ed Burns’ The Brothers McMullen which captures the L.A. dating lifestyle and couples it with the bond of two brothers trying to navigate through their every day lives.
Ethan (Ross McCall) is an everyday guy looking for a new job and trying to keep his fiancee happy. A series of events suddenly changes his life: he gets a new job in the movie business, his brother Kyle (Paul J. Alessi) comes to live with him for awhile, and his fiancee leaves him while taking ALL of their stuff. Ethan’s that nice guy who we all know – the guy who is bowled over by his love so much so that he might be a bit warped on what reality really is. Ethan knows that happiness is his fiancee so he asks his brother Kyle to help get her back.
Kyle is the ultimate “player”, that dude who will pick up any chick at the bar using any line imaginable. He agrees to help Ethan get her back but has some caveats of his own. Ethan needs to grow a bit of a backbone, treat girls a tad misogynistic, and sleep with someone else before trying to get back his fiancee Heather. Ethan’s friends are along for the ride which include married couple Russell (Omar Gooding) and Renee (Danielle Nicolet) who are having problems of their own.
The quest to make Ethan a tougher man in the dating pool is a story that most guys who try finding that special lady at a bar can appreciate. It’s not an easy task for most and there’s many speed bumps along the way. It’s here, as Ethan navigates the dating pool, where Alpha Males Experiment finds its humor. The movie itself is not laugh out loud funny – it feels like a great Judd Apatow film. A film that makes you think in addition to making you laugh. It’s a comedy that sticks with you.
Fans of Band of Brothers will recognize Ross McCall, having played Corporal Joseph Liebgott in the miniseries. McCall is a working actor but I hadn’t seen him in anything else until Alpha Males Experiment. I was happy to know that his standout performance in Brothers (hard when you consider the actors you were working with including a young Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, Ron Livingston, and more) wasn’t a fluke as he plays Ethan here with ease. Omar Gooding, brother of Cuba, also knocks it out of the park. I’m sure it’s not always easy to be cast as “African-American Friend” but he played the role with some ease and it’s easy to see that Omar continues to be the more talented Gooding.
Throw in the excellent performances of Paul J. Alessi as Ethan’s brother Kyle and Amie Barsky as the rocker member of Ethan’s crew and you round out with a bunch of great talent on the film. It pays off in spades and Alpha Males Experiment is one fun film that you need to check out.
If you like the films of Ed Burns or Judd Apatow, Alpha Males Experiment will be a great viewing experience for you.
