'Dead Man's Wire' is a Dull Dog Afternoon
Here's one of those reviews that needs to be quickly written, or else it will totally fade from my memory. Dead Man's Wire is simply another Dog Day Afternoon wannabe, with nothing to add to the hostage-film formula other than its ending, which is too little, too late. The story is relatively simple: a frustrated American who's been manipulated by the system decides to take matters into his own hands when he tries to recover what's been owed to him. It's another tale about a white man who has lost his sanity when trying to compete in the rat race, when new bits of commentary that could be explored are left out in favor of the same story we've seen told a million times before.
Tony Kiritsis' (Bill Skarsgård) story is a true one. Which still doesn't make it any more interesting. In 1977, Tony Kristis entered Meridian Mortgage Company with a large box containing a shotgun. When security foolishly lets him into the building without checking what he's packing, Tony takes the elevator up to the President's office and grabs him hostage. Tony ties a fishwire around the trigger to Richard Hall's (Dacre Montgomery) neck. Any false moves and Richard’s head will explode. The reason Tony's doing this is that he's been scammed out of a lot of money and wants to get rich because of his poor decisions. Tony's not a level-headed guy. He never really has the situation under control. He's simply acting out of instinct when he feels like he's got nothing left to lose.
Tony has no family, no kids, no house. He's another American statistic who doesn't want to leave this world with no lasting impact. Guys like Tony resemble the common American. One where nobody cares about them unless they have offspring. Being trapped in a system that doesn't help treat the mentally unstable as much as it should, Tony snaps. If he thought the lack of mental health care was bad back then, it's a good thing Tony didn't take Dick hostage when Ronald Reagan was in office.
While Tony's the all-American nobody, Dick is the typical nepo-baby boy we're supposed to feel bad for, because his father, M.L. Hall (Al Pacino), is an emotionless, neglectful jerk who cares more about his burritos being cut correctly than his own son's safety. Yes, Dick had a rough upbringing, but it's not nearly as rough as people like Tony, who doesn't have the luxury of being born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Certainly, having an unloving parent is difficult, but what if you had a low-income family life while also being born into financial constraints? From birth, you're born as more of a likely statistic instead of being revered as a function member of society, purely based on how much money your family has.
The picture's premise is familiar, as is its delivery. Gus Van Sant is not known for kinetic pictures. His movies often move at an even pace, usually serving as character pieces. Unlike Good Will Hunting or My Own Private Idaho, the characters in Dead Man's Wire are more stock characters than being fully rounded or interesting. Why is Tony crazy? What made him snap, other than the system? Where the movie should have begun or met its halfway point, it ends. Kind of like what Gus Van Sant did with Milk. Does he just not like telling the interesting part of the story in favor of the most commercially accessible angle possible? As a point of reference, watch Milk and The Times of Harvey Milk. You'll notice exactly where in the documentary the film could have continued its story, but chose to go with the most disposable narrative available.
It doesn't help that the lead performances aren't very spectacular. Bill Skarsgård is a lot like Johnny Depp. A lot of folks once hailed Depp for his versatility, when in reality, he just did silly voices. The same can be said for Bill. With the exception of his Dracula, Bill is mostly slapping on an impression instead of doing any real digging. Why does he sound like Bruce Banner's dad from the flashback scenes in Ang Lee's Hulk? Also, why does he look like a pedophile when the real Tony Kiritsis just appeared as a normal balding guy with a beer belly? At least Bill tries, whereas Al Pacino sounds like he based his character on Colonel Sanders after watching a KFC commercial.
The movie tries to say something about mental health and capitalism, but gets lost in the sensationalism of its premise. It doesn't help when the movie tries to mix camera styles from black-and-white to 8mm to modern cameras, but with the total lack of coke-fueled energy Oliver Stone attached to his early-to-mid 90s library. Some elements could work for this movie, but get lost in a collage of substandard editing, eye-rolling performances, and a weak, conventional screenplay.
