Dead Man's Wire
Rating: 4.5/5
Screened at Austin Film Festival
By: Nathaniel Simpson
There is something about Austin Kolodney's writing in Gus Van Sant's Dead Man's Wire that really keeps the audience hooked. He fantastically tells this true story by letting the characters shine from beginning to end. While other true stories may be more concerned with overwhelming the viewer with facts and dates, Kolodney takes the approach of telling the complex story of who these characters are, and how they all work as moving cogs in this giant machine throughout the bizarre 63 hours that started after Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) kidnapped Richard Hall (Dacre Montgomery). Combined with Van Sant's masterful directing and career-defining performances from the two leads, this film is a great example of how to tell a true story about a crime that shocked the nation.
What I really loved about this film is how the story immediately starts with the crime. Kolodney didn't waste any time with backstories or exposition, and allowed the story to play out through the dialogue from Tony and Richard. The first scene is Tony arriving to the Meridian Mortgage Company and immediately taking Richard hostage, wrapping a wire around his neck that was connected to the shotgun Tony had pointed at Richard's back. This scene alone does a fantastic job of immediately setting the story into motion, and keeps the audience's attention at a breakneck speed for most of the runtime.
The entire movie then plays out at Tony's house for the most part, where he kept Richard hostage and tried to work with police and Richard's father, M.L. Hall (Al Pacino) to arrange for a way to free Richard. For the most part, the story gracefully moves on from one moment to the other, held together by the dialogue that the two men share. Kolodney tells this story through the dialogue, and we start to understand the characters of Richard and Tony a lot better than if we had half an hour of exposition. I really appreciate the way Kolodney writes this story as he is truly trying to turn the audience into a fly on the wall for these interactions, and we therefore learn so much. At the same time, Van Sant takes this screenplay he is given and does a fantastic job of translating it onto the screen for the audience in a way only Van Sant can do. They even take care in trying to craft the tone of the era, including wonderful needle drops before songs, hilarious news outtakes, and showing the terrifying space of the unknown about how to approach this case on national television. The movie does run a little long at times, with scenes overstaying their welcome at certain points, but it really allows for such gripping and emotional scenes to really stand out here.
Skarsgård and Montgomery give such fantastic performances as these two men. For both of them, these roles are vastly different than what we have seen them play before; when looking at the promotional image before the movie, I honestly had no idea Montgomery was playing Richard due to how disguised he is in this role. Their chemistry is off the charts, and they captured this wonderful banter between kidnapper and victim. Richard has to appease Tony to be able to stay alive during this entire time, and the way Montgomery was able to play this role speaks volumes to his acting ability. On the other hand, Skarsgård plays such a likable and understandable antagonist. We don't agree with the actions he is committing, but we understand why he is doing it. There are so many layers to Tony, which I think Skarsgård brings out beautifully throughout the course of the picture.
At the same time, we receive such other fantastic performances from Pacino, Colman Domingo as radio personality Fred Temple, Myha'la as reporter Linda Page, and Cary Elwes as Detective Michael Grable. All of these performances complement our two main leads so well, especially Domingo and Pacino. I absolutely adore the scenes that Kolodney and Van Sant craft with Temple, and how this character really shines through as a beacon of hope for Tony. They make a fantastic decision to give this character such a major role in this picture that you can't even begin to imagine the movie without him in it. On the contrary, Pacino plays such a despicable character that you love to hate him. I mean, it's Pacino; he has his iconic Pacino charm and mannerisms. But, there is something about the way he brings Hall to life that immediately makes you loathe the character and start to root for Tony against him here.
Through Dead Man's Wire, Van Sant and Kolodney draw a blueprint on how to tell a great crime film that is based on a true story. This is a character-driven piece, and the two filmmakers made sure to take their time with this ensemble cast and how to really deliver on the character development through smart dialogue and fantastic performances. Van Sant has had a major career in the film industry, showcasing his talent in a variety of different films. Kolodney, on the other hand, is just getting started, and this is a very worthy indication that this young writer has such a bright career ahead of him.
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