January 13, 2026
FILM: DEAD MAN’S WIRE
DIRECTED BY: GUS VAN SANT
STARRING: BILL SKARSGARD, DACRE MONTGOMERY, AL PACINO
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
It’s been a while since director Gus Van Sant has made a film as good as this one. Known for My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, Milk, and many others, Van Sant is a diverse filmmaker who knows how to establish settings, issues, and fully rounded characters. Dead Man’s Wire is based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis who in 1977 took Richard Hall, the president of a mortgage company, hostage after a deal Kiritsis thought he’d made with the company fell through. The title refers to the wire that he put around Hall’s neck that was attached to a sawed-off shotgun. Any movement or misstep could end Hall’s life. The film is simultaneously a character study, a crime drama, an inditement of big business, and a profile of the media’s obsession with getting a story for ratings.
When we first meet Kiritsis, played by Bill Skarsgard, he is wearing a short sleeve shirt (odd for Indianapolis in February), a sling holding up one arm, and a long box on the hand of the other. Skarsgard is great in the role, coming across as nervous and menacing. The character had been dealing with the company and its owner, played by Al Pacino, for four years. He had wanted to develop a shopping mall and was now in debt. Kiritsis’s goal is to take Pacino’s son hostage to get his debt forgiven and to receive an apology from the elder Hall.
The action takes place in the downtown office building where Richard Hall is first held hostage then at Kiritsis’s apartment where he brings Hall, thanks in part to a cop “friend” that Kiritsis knows from a local bar. Van Sant cuts between these settings, the cops who arrive to deal with the chaotic scene, and the TV news crew attempting to capture the latest developments. There’s also a radio DJ named Fred Temple, played by Colman Domingo with an awesome FM voice, who gets involved with the case. All these elements are brought together to illustrate the large scope of the incident but also to emphasize the various agendas on hand that aren’t necessarily all for Hall.
The film offers some condemnation for the Pacino character who seems far less interested in saving his son than his own company. His lack of sense and care for his son’s predicament is startling and cold hearted. This allows us to have some empathy for Kiritisis who was financially damaged by the company. Since Hall has been put in an extremely dangerous situation with no real help from his father, he must remain calm and friendly toward his captor to save his own life. Dacre Montgomery is terrific in the role balancing all these emotions with a clear sense of fear.
The role of the media in cases like this is also given plenty of attention. Van Sant’s sporadic use of 70s era news and documentary-looking footage adds to the authentic feel of the time. The news crew is led by a younger on camera reporter, played by Myha’la, who is trying to establish her skills as a serious news person. Back in the television news office, the fight is on to get the latest happenings to increase ratings. Concern for Hall is hardly its priority.
There’s an interesting moment when the TV is on in Kiritsis’s apartment and John Wayne is receiving an award for his decades of film work playing a hero. Tony Kiritsis also believes that he himself will be a hero to many who want to see the mortgage company suffer. He sees himself as a modern-day John Wayne trying to right a wrong. He’s not like bank robber Clyde Barrow from decades earlier who believed he was doing the right thing by stealing from the banks that wronged many of its citizens during the Depression. If Clyde was a bad guy that needed to be brought down than Tony, from his own perspective, should only be considered a hero because his intentions are less destructive and more personally justified.
In the end, what Van Sant has created here is a multi-layered story recreation of a true showdown which asks the wider question about who the real monster is in contemporary society. Is it the greedy mortgage company, the media, or the man trying to right a wrong?
Dead Man’s Wire opens in theaters this week.
FILM: DEAD MAN’S WIRE
DIRECTED BY: GUS VAN SANT
STARRING: BILL SKARSGARD, DACRE MONTGOMERY, AL PACINO
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
It’s been a while since director Gus Van Sant has made a film as good as this one. Known for My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, Milk, and many others, Van Sant is a diverse filmmaker who knows how to establish settings, issues, and fully rounded characters. Dead Man’s Wire is based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis who in 1977 took Richard Hall, the president of a mortgage company, hostage after a deal Kiritsis thought he’d made with the company fell through. The title refers to the wire that he put around Hall’s neck that was attached to a sawed-off shotgun. Any movement or misstep could end Hall’s life. The film is simultaneously a character study, a crime drama, an inditement of big business, and a profile of the media’s obsession with getting a story for ratings.
When we first meet Kiritsis, played by Bill Skarsgard, he is wearing a short sleeve shirt (odd for Indianapolis in February), a sling holding up one arm, and a long box on the hand of the other. Skarsgard is great in the role, coming across as nervous and menacing. The character had been dealing with the company and its owner, played by Al Pacino, for four years. He had wanted to develop a shopping mall and was now in debt. Kiritsis’s goal is to take Pacino’s son hostage to get his debt forgiven and to receive an apology from the elder Hall.
The action takes place in the downtown office building where Richard Hall is first held hostage then at Kiritsis’s apartment where he brings Hall, thanks in part to a cop “friend” that Kiritsis knows from a local bar. Van Sant cuts between these settings, the cops who arrive to deal with the chaotic scene, and the TV news crew attempting to capture the latest developments. There’s also a radio DJ named Fred Temple, played by Colman Domingo with an awesome FM voice, who gets involved with the case. All these elements are brought together to illustrate the large scope of the incident but also to emphasize the various agendas on hand that aren’t necessarily all for Hall.
The film offers some condemnation for the Pacino character who seems far less interested in saving his son than his own company. His lack of sense and care for his son’s predicament is startling and cold hearted. This allows us to have some empathy for Kiritisis who was financially damaged by the company. Since Hall has been put in an extremely dangerous situation with no real help from his father, he must remain calm and friendly toward his captor to save his own life. Dacre Montgomery is terrific in the role balancing all these emotions with a clear sense of fear.
The role of the media in cases like this is also given plenty of attention. Van Sant’s sporadic use of 70s era news and documentary-looking footage adds to the authentic feel of the time. The news crew is led by a younger on camera reporter, played by Myha’la, who is trying to establish her skills as a serious news person. Back in the television news office, the fight is on to get the latest happenings to increase ratings. Concern for Hall is hardly its priority.
There’s an interesting moment when the TV is on in Kiritsis’s apartment and John Wayne is receiving an award for his decades of film work playing a hero. Tony Kiritsis also believes that he himself will be a hero to many who want to see the mortgage company suffer. He sees himself as a modern-day John Wayne trying to right a wrong. He’s not like bank robber Clyde Barrow from decades earlier who believed he was doing the right thing by stealing from the banks that wronged many of its citizens during the Depression. If Clyde was a bad guy that needed to be brought down than Tony, from his own perspective, should only be considered a hero because his intentions are less destructive and more personally justified.
In the end, what Van Sant has created here is a multi-layered story recreation of a true showdown which asks the wider question about who the real monster is in contemporary society. Is it the greedy mortgage company, the media, or the man trying to right a wrong?
Dead Man’s Wire opens in theaters this week.