Dead Man’s Wire
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Written by Austin Kolodney
Starring Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Al Pacino, Cary Elwes, Colman Domingo, Myha’la
Rated R
Runtime: 1 hour and 45 minutes
In theaters January 16
by Ashley Morales, Staff Writer
It’s hard to believe there was once a time where the news cycle was not 24/7. Today, social media provides a constant stream of trending topics and highlights to glue us to our devices, but this wasn’t always the case. However, some news stories are so big that they have always demanded the nation’s rapt attention. Crime thriller Dead Man’s Wire is based on one such true story.
In February 1977, Tony Kiritsis entered the Meridian Mortgage office in Indianapolis, Indiana and proceeded to hold the President of the firm, Richard “Dick” Hall, hostage. Kiritsis created a dead man’s wire: two wires were looped around the men’s heads with a sawed off shotgun pointed at Hall’s, the idea being that if Hall tried to make a run for it or the police shot at Kiritisis, the wire would pull the gun’s trigger and kill Hall instantly. The reason for the hostage situation was Kiritsis feeling like he got swindled by the firm, especially Hall and Hall’s father. Kiritisis wanted to buy a plot of land and create his own grocery store; the Halls claimed he was behind on his payments and eventually took the land back, but Kiritsis believed they did so because the price of the land was increasing and they could get a better return on their investment elsewhere. This scuffle, broadcast on television and on the radio, captivated not only the city of Indianapolis, but the rest of the United States. As the tagline of Dead Man’s Wire states, “His revolution was televised.”