Row K Entertainment, which recently launched, has made its first North American acquisition with Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, picked up out of the Toronto market. Row K has also released a new trailer.
This film had so much potential, and the trailer certainly suggests a ’70s American–new-wave–inspired hostage crime thriller, but I just couldn’t vibe with it. Maybe you will.
This is Van Sant’s comeback vehicle. After seven years away, the director of “Elephant,” “Drugstore Cowboy,” “My Own Private Idaho,” and “Good Will Hunting” returns with an oddly inert film—which I reviewed at Venice. Don’t get me wrong: reviews have been positive, but to me, they’re a bit too generous. If that 97% on Rotten Tomatoes were truly an accurate reflection, a more prestigious studio—rather than Row K—would be behind it.
Set in 1977, the film centers on the true story of Tony Kiritsis, who held a banker at gunpoint. Yet Van Sant somehow makes this wild real-life story feel dull. The movie wants to be “Dog Day Afternoon,” but it isn’t. It’s stylish, occasionally funny, and anchored by a precise Bill Skarsgård performance, but it never ignites real tension or immersion. It admires the ’70s; it doesn’t live in them.
Van Sant assembles an accomplished cast of performers. Skarsgård and Dacre Montgomery star as the pivotal kidnapped-hostage duo. The pair is joined by co-stars Colman Domingo, Cary Elwes, Myha’la, and Al Pacino.
Since “Milk” (2008), it’s been a rough run for Van Sant: “Restless” (2011) was mawkish and lightweight, “Promised Land” (2013) was a clunker, and “The Sea of Trees” (2015) was booed out of Cannes. His last film, “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” (2018), despite Joaquin Phoenix in the lead, couldn’t break through. Earlier this year, Van Sant directed six episodes of “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” which critics responded to favorably. It marked a small but notable return for him.
“Dead Man’s Wire” was originally supposed to be directed by Werner Herzog, with Nicolas Cage in the lead — that version fell through. It would have been far more interesting to see those two at the helm than what we ultimately got.
“Dead Man’s Wire” will have an awards-qualifying run on December 12. It opens in select theaters January 9 before expanding nationwide on January 16. Watch the new trailer below.