DEAD MAN’S WIRE (Blu-ray Review)
In Dead Man’s Wire, Bill Skarsgård plays Tony Kiritsis, a guy who walks into a mortgage office in 1977 carrying a shotgun inside a cardboard box because he’s convinced the company cheated him out of everything. His plan falls apart when the man he came to confront isn’t there, so he grabs the owner’s son, Richard (Dacre Montgomery), instead.
Film ★★★★☆
The movie wastes getting started. No twenty-minute backstory explaining why Tony snapped. No endless scenes showing him getting screwed over before the hostage situation begins. He walks into the office, things go sideways almost immediately, and before you’ve really settled in, Richard Hall has a shotgun wired to the back of his neck. Then Tony marches him through the streets, steals a police car, and gets him back to his apartment. The terrific first act never gives you a chance to get comfortable.
From there it becomes less of a thriller and more of two men sitting in a cramped apartment while everyone outside argues about what should happen next. Negotiators stall. Reporters circle the building. The radio keeps broadcasting updates. That’s the rhythm for a while. If you’re expecting one huge twist after another, you’ll come away disappointed.
I was wishing the story kept the momentum it had during the opening thirty minutes.
Skarsgård makes it impossible to take your eyes off. One second Tony’s screaming about corrupt businessmen. The next he’s trying to make small talk with Richard or calling into Fred Temple’s radio show as if he’s chatting with an old friend. The film doesn’t work without the emotional unpredictability.
Dacre Montgomery has the tougher job because Richard spends most of the movie reacting instead of driving it. It would’ve been easy to turn him into a generic hostage waiting to be rescued, but he watches and listens. Eventually understanding, even if he doesn’t agree. It’s an odd connection that develops, and one of the better surprises in the movie. Neither man becomes what you’d expect.
The ‘70s world is convincing, from the tired offices to the lived in apartments. Even the TV news footage blends in surprisingly well. Danny Elfman’s score helps too, never overwhelming anything, giving scenes just enough tension.
The movie deserves credit for refusing to tell you who you’re supposed to root for. Tony has legitimate reasons to be angry. But he’s also unstable enough that you never forget he’s got a shotgun pointed at another man’s head. Richard isn’t portrayed as some cartoon rich guy either. If anything, he ends up being one of the more sympathetic people in the whole story. His relationship with his father says more about the Hall family than any speech ever could. Director Gus Van Sant wisely stays out of the way and lets you decide how you feel about everyone.
The pacing was where I found myself becoming frustrated. The opening stretch is so strong that I kept waiting for another gear the movie never really finds. Instead, it settles into a pattern. Tony explodes. Somebody tries talking him down. Reporters react. Police argue. Then it starts over. By the final act I the story had already shown most of what it had to offer.
Video ★★★★☆
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Clarity/Detail: The high-definition presentation preserves Gus Van Sant’s aesthetic, prioritizing an authentic, filmic texture. Fine details come through naturally, capturing the coarse weave of knitwear, the woodgrain, and matte surfaces.
Depth: The image is pretty flat, an intimate perspective that mirrors the film’s grounded, slice-of-life staging. The spatial relationships within Tony’s apartment feel physically present.
Black Levels: Shadow definition is solid, keeping the film’s numerous low-light domestic scenes readable.
Color Reproduction: The color palette leans into a beautifully controlled, retro spectrum dominated by muted ambers, earthy browns, and the chilly grays. Saturation evokes the 1970 setting.
Flesh Tones: Skin tones remain balanced.
Noise/Artifacts: A deliberate, heavy layer of film grain blankets the image to capture the period illusion.
Audio ★★★☆☆
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Dynamics: Given the film’s deliberate, slow-burn rhythm, the audio track favors a naturalistic, intimate dynamic range over jarring sonic extremes.
Height: N/A
Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer provides a nice balance throughout.
Surround Sound Presentation: The surround channels are utilized with restraint, focusing entirely on environmental realism.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is perfectly prioritized.
Extras ☆☆☆☆☆
There are no extras provided.
Summary ★★★☆☆
Dead Man’s Wire is one of those movies where the lead performance keeps pulling you back in whenever the story threatens to flatten out. Still, it’s well acted, it looks terrific, and it’s built around a true story that’s weird enough to keep you hooked almost by default.
