Dead Man's Wire

I thought the trailer for Dead Man's Wire, which is based on a true story, looked really intriguing so I went to see it last night and enjoyed it even more than I was expecting.  Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgard) is a would-be Indianapolis real estate developer in 1977 who blames all of his financial woes on the Meridian Mortgage company.  He makes an appointment to meet with the president M.L. Hall (Al Pacino) in order to kidnap him but, because he is on vacation in Florida, Tony abducts his son Richard (Dacre Montgomery), instead.  Tony uses a "dead man's wire" to bind Richard and himself to the trigger of a shotgun so that Richard will be killed instantly if anything happens to him.  He alleges that Meridian sabotaged his plan for turning his property into a shopping center by encouraging potential tenants not to lease from him so he demands $5 million for lost revenue, immunity from prosecution, and a public apology from M.L. Hall for his actions (which he callously refuses to do despite the threat to his son).  Detective Michael Grable (Cary Elwes), one of Tony's drinking buddies, attempts to negotiate but tensions escalate and Richard is kept hostage in Tony's apartment for three days.  However, Linda Page (Myha'la), a local TV reporter who happens to be in the right place at the right time, and Fred Temple (Colman Domingo), a popular morning DJ, both broadcast sympathetic portrayals of Tony which turn him into a folk hero and this leads to an outcome that I found quite surprising (and strangely satisfying).  This is very thought-provoking, incredibly entertaining, and surprisingly funny (a scene involving a flow chart on a chalkboard by an FBI profiler made me laugh out loud).  I loved the immersive cinematography in the style of a gritty 1970s crime thriller, especially Linda's TV footage and the black and white crime scene photographs.  All of the performances are outstanding, particularly Skarsgard, who is absolutely brilliant as an ordinary man who has been pushed too far by a greedy company, and Domingo, who has such a velvety smooth voice that he really could be a DJ.  Finally, all of the 1970s needle drops are a lot of fun (my favorite is "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron).  I really dug this and highly recommend it.