Dead Man's Wire

At a time when many of us may feel like we’re being systematically shafted by big business and powerful financial institutions, it’s natural that some of us might feel justified in seeking retribution against them for their deceitful actions. Such was also the case in February 1977, when an aggrieved borrower sought potentially deadly vengeance against the president of an Indianapolis mortgage company, as seen in this fact-based comedy-drama-thriller from director Gus Van Sant. When Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård), a mentally challenged borrower, felt financially betrayed by a lender he implicitly trusted, he decided to take action to get back at the loan company’s owner, M.L. Hall (Al Pacino). However, on the day he was scheduled to meet with Mr. Hall, Kiritsis learned that he was on a last-minute midwinter “business trip” to Florida, thereby thwarting his plans for revenge. So, with his principal intention thus foiled, the angry customer resorted to his fallback plan, taking the owner’s son, Richard (Dacre Montgomery), as hostage. And, to show the world he meant business, the perpetrator fitted his captive with a taut wire around his neck that was connected to a shotgun set to fire with the slightest unplanned motion. However, despite his seemingly efficient planning, the determined but somewhat bumbling culprit ended up launching what would turn out to be a cross between a heinous criminal event and a comical media circus that mesmerized the city for days. Law enforcement officials, like Kiritsis’s acquaintance, Det. Michael Grable (Cary Elwes), were frustrated by developments at nearly every turn, while many in the public at large sympathized with the captor’s seemingly justifiable motives. And, in the process, the event exploded to draw in a variety of ancillary storylines, such as the determined campaign of a neophyte television reporter (Myha’la) aggressively seeking to lock down coverage of her first breakthrough story and the improvised negotiation efforts of a popular local radio host (Colman Domingo) who was trusted by the event’s ringmaster who was unwittingly drawn into the fray. The result is an accurate re-enactment of a potentially dangerous event that ultimately plays out like a classic example of pure Americana kitsch, a film that calls to mind elements found in such releases as “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975) and “Breaking” (2022). However, despite the picture’s commendable efforts at re-creating a scenario that has largely slipped from public memory over the years, this release feels as though it tries a little too hard at times, as if it’s wearing its penchant for period piece authenticity on its sleeve. In addition, portions of the narrative drag somewhat in the middle, coming across like padding to fill out the easily trimmed 1:45:00 runtime. Those criticisms aside, however, “Dead Man’s Wire” nevertheless features an excellent production design, along with fine performances by Domingo, Pacino, and, especially, Skarsgård. This modestly entertaining offering generally holds viewer interest reasonably well, providing a modicum of gripping drama and more than a few well-earned chuckles along the way. If nothing else, however, the story should serve as a warning to those who would try to pull one over on an increasingly unsettled, unpredictable, trigger-happy public, one whose imbedded lesson strongly cautions that cost of calculated financial scheming could easily overshadow whatever profits might come from such artful material deception.

Back in 1977, Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) took the law into his own hands by brazenly kidnapping the son of the owner of a mortgage company that he felt had left him high, dry and broke. Now we are not taking about a child here, Richard (Dacre Montgomery) is a married adult and father who is frog-marched out of his building with a shotgun tied to his head. They even pinch a police car to drive to his explosives-riddled apartment where he will hold his hostage until he gets $5 millions in compensation and a written apology from M.L. Hall (Al Pacino) whom he blames for his woes. Meantime, the smooth-tongued local radio personality Fred Temple (Colman Domingo) is trying to keep the city mellow and is surprised when he gets a call from Tony asking him to help mediate. Is there even the slightest chance he can facilitate something that isn’t going to result in someone’s brains all over the linoleum? This is loosely based on real events, but even so Gus Van Sant manages to maintain quite a taut degree of jeopardy as events unfold. Pacino only features in about three scenes and he manages to make quite an impact as a dad nobody would ever want, but it’s really Skarsgård’s film as he really quite likeably treads the thinnest of lines between maniac and avenging angel. Along the way, he benefits from a powerfully earthy script to help him vacillate precariously as he tries to stay one step ahead of investigating detective “Grable” (an almost unrecognisable Cary Elwes). This film hits the ground running and races along with a sustained intensity right until an ending that probably manages to get your emotions conflicted and with a very convincing 1970s look to it, is worth a watch.