Dead Man´s Wire

I can still remember my very first visit to a film festival and that was in the year of 2003. It was in the Swedish city Stockholm at the Stockholm International Film Festival 2003. I remember how excited i was being able to see films that i usually would not see, mostly foreign films since film festivals such as this had films from all over the world. I was looking back at the program for the movies that were showing, and i do remember some of the films. While other films i can only remember certain details about. You see at this film festival i really tried to see several very different films, from a big diversity of directors across the world. I will be honest and tell you why i especially wanted to visit this specific year. Because this was the exclusive screening of iconic director Gus Van San´t latest film Elephant that i read so many brilliant reviews in movie magazines. If you never heard of this film that´s completely fine. It actually made a lot of movie fans worldside discuss the film, for a very good reason. This film is inspired by the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre, and the film show the day just as the massacre is about to happen. If you love really strong acting, brilliant cinematography by Harris Savides and powerful realistic scenes, then you should definetely watch Elephant on streaming, VOD or physical media. Director Gus Van Sant have done some really wonderful films over the years, where some of his biggest classics are of course Drusgstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho and To Die For. I really love his 2008 biographical drama Milk, with an absolutely brilliant acting performance from legendary actor Sean Pean as the gay activist, politician Harvey Milk. Last year i started hearing about Gus Van Sant´s latest film Dead Man´s Wire, based on a true story of American kidnapper Tony Kiritsis, who on in early 1977 kidnapped Richard O Hall, by attaching a dead man´s switch, a 12-gauge Winchester 1400 sawed-off shotgun to the back of Hall´s head. I know there was a documentary film released telling the story of what happened in 2018, i have not seen this one. But since i always been a big fan of Gus Van Sant i was very curious to see his film adaptation of this true story. Is this another Gus Van Sant classic or is Dead Man´s Wire not as good as it could have been?

On Tuesday, February 8, 1977, in Indianapolis, Tony Kiritsis ( Bill Skarsgård ) arrives for an appointment with wealthy mortgage broker M.L. Hall ( Al Pacino ) at the Meridian Mortgage company. Tony is instead met with M.L, Hall´s own son, Richard Hall ( Dacre Montgomery ), who reveals that M.L. Hall has left for vacation. Tony does not have any patience anymore, as he hold Richard Hall at gunpoint and wires a shotgun to his neck, rigged to fire if he tries to escape or anyone interferes. He believes the Halls cheated him on potential profit after he bought land to develop and is determined to expose them.  He notifies the locla police that he hase taken Richard prisoner, as he takes control over a police car and demand Richard to drive them to Tony´s home. Tony will not let Richard go until Tony get the respect that he deserves.

Knowing that iconic director Gus Van Sant is the director of Dead Man´s Wire does make this film unique of course. I have a lot of respect for him, not only as a director but also for how he manage to tell stories in his own unique way. I have almost seen all of his films ( except for the 2011 film Restless, which i will pick up on physical media at some point ) and i really love how he is able to take on any genre of film, and still make each film feel like a Gus Van Sant creation. Knowing that this film is based on a true story makes me fascinated, how this one single man managed to pull this off. Obviously i understand that police could not take too many risks since the main character, because if they shot Tony they could kill the kidnapped victim as well. Let´s move into what details i really appreciate with Dead Man´s Wire. Actor Bill Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis proves what an amazing actor Bill really is, when he gets the right script and the right character. I personally feel that this performance really show that Bill Skarsgård can take on any kind of character, and capture the personality with the right body language and the sharp dialogue combined. His screen chemistry with actor Dacre Montgomery ( who i really enjoy as the character Billy Hargrove in Netflix TV series Stranger Things ) as the character Richard Hall, they deliver some solid dialogue scenes together where you can feel the atmosphere in Tony´s frustation. Another really powerful performance comes from the iconic The Princess Bride actor Cary Elwes, who playes the character Detective Michael Grable, where you can tell Cary tried to capture the mentality and personality of his character in a realistic way. Legendary actor Al Pacino is here as well, even if he is only in a few scenes you know he will be good. The film looks really good capturing a cool looking 70´s vibe with the right soundtrack, beautiful set designs and solid acting in general. There are only a few moments i feel certain dialogue scenes don´t feel as powerful as they could have been, after all this is a Gus Van Sant film and we know he is really good at delivering dialogue scenes. As a crime thriller i would say that Dead Man´s Wire is strong enough through great acting performances, and the time period captured really well of the 1970´s, director Gus Van Sant proves once more he is such a great director. Dean Man´s Wire is worth checking out on VOD or digital for sure.

Rating: DDD