Dead Man’s Wire review by Bobby Blakey
Bill Skarsgard has been on a tear lately with some great performances over the last few years including the IT franchise, Boy Kills World, Locked and Nosferatu. His latest film Dead Man’s Wire has him taking on the true story of a hostage standoff co-starring Dacre Montgomery, Colman Domingo, Cary Elwes, Myha'la, and Al Pacino from director Gus Van Sant. Can this film bring the tension to this situation to successful like or will it stay a hostage?
Dead Man’s Wire follows the 1977 kidnapping of a prominent banker grips the nation and turns the abductor into an outlaw folk hero. As the media frenzy peaks, the standoff becomes a spectacle of desperation, defiance and blurred justice, which resonates even today.
I love films like this, taking on true stories especially when there is so much public footage as it gives them more reference to work from but also a big mission to make it authentic. This story gets pretty heavy, but they manage to bring some dark humor and levity to the story that helps to make it something more than it might have been otherwise. They do a great job balancing the tension and the truth as the chaos unfolds during this standoff to create something compelling.
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Most of the success of this film is thanks to Skarsgard and Montgomery. They have great chemistry in this forced relationship that teeters through a wide range of emotions for them both. Skarsgard is unhinged but still carries the everyman persona that makes you believe in why the public was on his side as it got crazier and crazier. You feel and understand his issue and why he is doing this and know it can’t end well for either of them.
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Montgomery, who is most known for his role as Billy Hargrove in Stranger Things,
has been mostly out of the spotlight, so it was a pleasure seeing him back on screen. He has the more subtle role despite being terrified in his circumstance. He is not only forced to face the inner terror of being a hostage, but the personal issues with his father played by Al Pacino and his unwillingness to do what needs to be done to get him freed.
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The look and esthetic of the film is fantastic as not only did they nail the background and costumes to bring the 70s fully to life, but the film itself looks like it could have been shot during that time. It gives the slow burn nature more character and pulls you in as it all unfolds in dramatic fashion.
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The film is good although its not screaming anything we haven’t seen before. Thanks to the leads and the tone it stands out to do justice to this story and the craziness that came along with it. It’s the kind of thing that seems unlikely and yet happened none the less complete with original news footage included during the end credit.
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Decide for yourself and check out Dead Man’s Wire in theaters now from Row K.