Movie Review: Dead Man's Wire

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent thriller. 

This movie tells the true story (that happened in Indianapolis in 1977) of a man who feels wronged by a broker and ends up tying a noose with a gun attached to it to the broker's son. By doing this he plans to bring to light how terrible of people the broker and his son were. 

Is this man an evil horrible person, someone who is suffering from mental problems or a hero standing up for the little man? What makes this film work so well is that it never answers this question. It simply tells you the story and makes you reach your own conclusions about it. With such an approach the best well to tell the story is to make it as authentic as possible. Director Gus Van Sant (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), Good Will Hunting (1997), Milk (2008)) and writer Austin Kolodney (amazingly writing his first feature film) go to great lengths to achieve this. Austin Kolodney, even did much research on the subject to make sure this movie was as close to the real events as possible. Van Sant gives the movie an almost documentary look and feel to it, making us sometimes momentarily forget that we aren't watching real footage. This includes making each shot look as authentically like the 70's as possible. This was done down to the tiniest detail. Also making this movie feel real is the performances of Bill Skarsgård and Dacre Montgomery, both of whom seem to become these real-life people. Bill Skarsgård's is also incredibly magnetic making it hard to take your eyes off of him, even if his character can be far from likable. He is truly scary in this role because of how natural he feels, and this is what creates the tension needed for this kind of thriller. 

One thing does cut into this movie's feeling of authenticity though and that is Al Pacino's supporting role. When he is on screen, we are too aware that we are watching Al Pacino, and the film no longer feels like a documentary. 

The movie has a subplot involving two reporters who work on small stories but see this crime as a chance to get a big story for the first time. These characters are quite likable, but the story can feel shoehorned in and more than a little like padding at times. 

This is a truly engrossing film.