Title: Dead Man’s Wire
Describe This Movie Using One Blazing Saddles Quote:
HEDLEY LAMARR: Wait a minute. There might be legal precedent. Of course! Land-snatching!
Brief Plot Synopsis: He’s mad as hell, etc. etc.
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 4 former Councilman Ron Millers out of 5.
Tagline: “His revolution was televised.”
Better Tagline: “Down and out in Meridian Hills.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: It’s February 8, 1977, and you already know something’s up with Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) because he’s walking through downtown Indianapolis without a coat on. He’s got a meeting with M.L. Hall (Al Pacino) of Meridian Mortgage. Unfortunately, M.L. is actually in Florida, and Tony isn’t in the mood to settle for M.L.’s son Richard (Dacre Montgomery). Meridan has “done him wrong” for four years, and Tony is through messing around.
“Critical” Analysis: Honestly, it’s a pretty good time for a movie like Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire.
The movie takes place in 1977, and Van Sant leverages that setting to the hilt. But the story of a normal dude pushed to the brink of violence by Corporate America is something most of us can relate to. Think Falling Down, but with a protagonist who isn’t a nascent fascist. Or maybe Dog Day Afternoon with a (very) little more forethought.
Kiritsis’ implosion was a long time coming, but the brush-off he gets from the Meridian Mortgage secretary is the cherry on top. This perfunctory indignity will be depressingly familiar to anyone over the age of 12. Though to be fair, it’s still less impersonal than a voice menu.
Gil Scott-Heron references aside, it isn’t clear how much of a “revolution” was ever in play. A local news crew did indeed catch the hostage situation, courtesy of intrepid reporter Linda Page (Myha’la) and her cameraman (John Robinson), both of whom are as excited about their first big story as they are over their heads.
Then again, “over their heads” could describe just about everyone involved. From Tony and “Dick” Hall, to lead detective Mike Grable (an admirably schlubby Cary Elwes), to the Indianapolis media. Van Sant peppers the film with archival clips (many also seen in the 2018 documentary Dead Man’s Line), which only reinforces this point.
When it comes down to it, Tony’s whole revolt was based on his belief that Meridian screwed him out of a real estate deal. The company maintained they were just penalizing him for missing payments. Two things can be true at once. It’s just as likely the unstable Kiritsis was in default as it is the company operated in bad faith.
Van Sant loves stories of middle American underdogs and weirdos (Drugstore Cowboy’s Bob Hughes, To Die For’s Suzanne Stone). All had one thing in common: a protagonist with a beef against the world. Or at least, a belief they somehow deserved something more. Tony Kiritsis committed his crimes thanks to an ironclad conviction he was in the right.
Alternating between delusion and sympathy, Skarsgård’s sells Tony’s class fury. Rigging up a shotgun trap (think Dog vs the Gyro Captain in The Road Warrior) is bad enough. Never mind his apparently sincere belief he’d get away with immunity and $5 million for his actions.
As good as Skarsgård is, it’s the supporting cast that really sells it. Tony’s only link to the outside is through radio DJ Fred Temple (Colman Domingo). Temple resents the intrusion, at first, but eventually takes his role as liaison seriously. He’s underutilized in the second half, unfortunately.
But Montgomery really impresses as Hall, the hostage who tragically realizes his father isn’t going to acquiesce to his captor’s demands. He also helps keep the movie from swerving into maudlin territory. There won’t be any Stockholm Syndrome between the two, and Hall’s growing desperation is genuine.
Side note: Van Sant apparently got Pacino for a day. Well worth it.
Whether you think Tony Kiritsis was a legitimate agent of rage or a sad dupe (perhaps a little from column A…), Dead Man’s Wire is a foundational look at the lengths the marginalized might go to make things right. Gus Van Sant’s movie is his most accessible since Milk (or maybe Good Will Hunting). It’s also painfully topical, though by presenting it in almost documentary fashion, he avoids endorsing Kiritsis’s actions. Mostly.
Dead Man’s Wire is in theaters today.
