Time: 106 Minutes
Age Rating: R16 – Violence, cruelty & offensive language
Cast:
Bill Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis
Dacre Montgomery as Richard Hall
Cary Elwes as Detective Michael Grable
Myha’la as Linda Page
Colman Domingo as Fred Temple
Al Pacino as M.L. Hall
Director: Gus Van Sant

I was interested in Dead Man’s Wire, which is Gus Van Sant’s latest movie starring Bill Skarsgard, Dacre Montgomery, Colman Domingo and Al Pacino. There may be better movies about hostages, but this was still good.

As far as robbery/hostage movies go, it’s pretty decent. It’s not remarkable, certainly no Dog Day Afternoon, but it works for what it is. It’s a fairly conventional and low stakes film based on a weird true story and told in a straightforward way. It does what it needs to with the pacing and dialogue, tight at 105 minutes, and was energetic, entertaining, and surprisingly comedic.

The cast is really good and one of the highlights. Bill Skarsgard is amazing in the lead role of the hostage taker. He is convincing in the role, tense, explosive, eccentric, unhinged, even funny, and overall delivers one of his best performances. Dacre Montgomery is great and believable as the hostage. Colman Domingo was enjoyable and charismatic and shines in his scenes, Cary Elwes, Myha’la, and Al Pacino were good in their parts too.

Gus Van Sant’s direction is strong. It really succeeds at capturing the 1970s time period and harkens back to that setting with the cinematography, costume designs, production designs, and overall vibes and aesthetics. It’s very stylised with the editing, and I liked the 70s soundtrack.

Dead Man’s Wire is a solid, stylishly directed, and entertaining thriller, with some great performances.