Dead Man’s Wire – Review

A true story, Dead Man’s Wire contains an interesting crime tale. As DJ Fred Temple (Domingo) talks over the cold winter wind, Tony Kiritsis (Skarsgård) drives into Indianapolis on Tuesday, February 8^th, 1977. Tony parks his car, and immediately the key breaks in the ignition. Perhaps a sign of things to come. He takes out a box from his back seat, and enters a building owned by the Meridian Mortgage Company.

Tony has a plan, and it is not a very nice one. His arm is in a sling, and he asks for M.L. Hall (Pacino), of whom he has a meeting with. Instead, he gets M.L.’s son Richard (Montgomery), who leads Tony upstairs. M.L. himself is too busy sitting poolside in Florida, upset about his grilled chicken with rice and sauteed spinach burrito. It’s cut in half, instead of thirds. Plus, Tuesdays he doesn’t eat meat.

This swap for Richard upsets Tony, who wanted the big man. They head up to M.L.’s conference office, and Tony’s mission sparks off. Here, he takes Richard hostage, rigging up a shotgun with a dead man’s switch to the back of his neck. Tony feels that he is owed quite an apology from this company for his treatment over time. This begins a tale of hostages, mortgage interest, crime, passion, predatory lending and ethics.

The elements included in this film are quite interesting, as was the real situation. Tony’s feelings of being treated like a dog by a large mortgage lending company is a fairly sympathetic position, even if taking a hostage is not. As the press and police get involved, the story leaks out to the public, and some people understand why it is happening, and even cheer it on.

The acting is great from all parties, and Gus Van Sant keeps the direction tight. There are “documentary” type shots mixed in to re-create the press’ cameras, while most of it is told traditionally. While I find plenty of his work to be divisive, this film is pretty straight forward for him. Skarsgård is great like always, and the script itself keeps things interesting and presents multiple points of view for the event. The runtime is short enough that it never drags. It is worth a watch, even if it may not be a revelatory experience.