The film features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Christopher Marquette, Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin, and Bruce Willis.

In 1999, Johnny Truelove works as a young drug dealer while making a living in the San Gabriel Valley.

Jake attempts to borrow money from his father, Butch, and stepmother, Olivia, while his younger half-brother Zack looks up to him and longs to escape his home life.

Spotting Zack on the side of a road, the gang impulsively kidnaps him, planning to hold him until Jake pays up, and drive to Palm Springs.

However, after a threatening phone-call from Jake and learning from his lawyer that he could face life in prison for his actions, Johnny goes to Elvis and offers to cancel his debt if he kills Zack, handing him a submachine gun before going out with his girlfriend, Angela Holden, to celebrate her birthday.

While Frankie runs off, Elvis politely introduces himself to Zack, then takes Keith to dig a grave in the nearby mountains.

Frankie, Elvis, Keith, and Zack drive out into the mountains and begin walking up a remote hiking trail.

Sometime later, Susan angrily confronts Frankie over Zack's murder before she goes to alert the police, who catch Elvis trying to secure a lift out of town.

Tiko, Keith, Frankie, and Elvis are convicted for their roles in the kidnapping and eventual murder, with Tiko serving nine years in prison, Keith staying at the California Youth Authority until the age of 25, Frankie receiving a life sentence, and Elvis on Death Row in San Quentin State Prison.

In 2005, after over five years on the FBI's most wanted list, Johnny is arrested in Paraguay, now back in California awaiting trial, facing the death penalty if found guilty.

After Hollywood was captured in Saquarema, Brazil, and subsequently returned to the United States, his defense lawyer claimed Zonen had a conflict of interest; the California Court of Appeal for the Second District ruled on October 5, 2006, that Zonen should be recused from further involvement in prosecuting Hollywood because of his disclosure of the files and work on the film.

"[16] On July 8, 2009, Hollywood was convicted of simple kidnapping and first-degree murder with special circumstances and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[22][23] Justin Chang of Variety wrote: "Writer-director Nick Cassavetes' sprawling dramatization recklessly blurs the line between reconstruction and reality in ways that are admittedly interesting, if more than a little artistically suspect.

How would any loving parent feel about a Hollywood movie that glamorizes their son's death and allows celebrities to cash in on a brutal, evil murder?