A crime drama so bizarre, its has to be true, Gus Van Sant recreates a 1977 hostage standoff that originally played out on live TV.
On February 8, 1977 a disgruntled businessman took a mortgage broker hostage for three days, holding a shogun to his head, wired to his neck via a “dead man’s switch”, meaning if the gun holder was in any way “incapacitated” the gun would go off and the hostage would most certainly die.
This all took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, and how and why I’d never hear about this before is confounding as I was living in the US and certainly old enough to be aware of such things.
But this did happen, and in fact, much of it took place on live local TV.
Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgard) has had enough.
His mortgage broker has cheated him…or so he believes…and he demands justice.
So, armed with a shotgun (this is America, after all), he marches into the office of the Meridian Mortgage Company, hoping to “meet” with owner M.L. Hall (Al Pacino). But Hall, the senior is holidaying in Florida and so son, Richard (Dacre Montgomery) faces Tony’s wrath.
Two things come to my mind immediately…I am reminded of current prisoner Luigi Mangione, who is waiting trail for allegedly killing the CEO of a major health insurer after he was possibly pused to the brink…and of the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon, in which the protagonist (played by Al Pacino) holds employees of a bank hostage, with much of that drama played out on live TV.
Back to Dead Man’s Wire…
So, the premise is riveting and the story takes plenty of unforeseeable twists and turns…Pacino’s character is incredibly nonchalant about his son’s predicament…and Van Sant does a masterful job of recreating the look and feel of 1977 Midwestern USA.
And no wonder.
It seems there has already been a documentary made about this standoff called Dead Man’s Line, in 2018 (you can find it on YouTube) giving Van Sant a perfect template to work from. The dramatized film is very, very similar to the documentary, almost to the point where they are interchangeable.
But that shouldn’t affect your enjoyment or appreciation of Dead Man’s Wire…its still a great story, told by an accomplished filmmaker and cast and crew…even if the real deal threatens to take away some of its thunder.
Marty Duda
Dead Man’s Wire is screening at the 2026 New Zealand International Film Festival. Click here for tickets and showtimes.
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