Dead Man’s Wire

Considering his barbaric methods, it’s difficult to feel much sympathy for the vigilante crusader in Dead Man’s Wire, a taut and suspenseful thriller of working-class vengeance set in 1977 Indiana.

However, his story still resonates, almost 50 years later, while depicting an act of rebellion against capitalist greed and a corrupt financial system.

The latest project from acclaimed director Gus Van Sant (Milk) also incisively explores the fringes of fame in the days before mobile phones, social networks, and the 24-hour news cycle.

Recalling an obscure true-life incident, the story establishes an adversarial friction right from the opening scene, when Tony (Bill Skarsgard) storms into a downtown Indianapolis mortgage office, demanding to speak to executives about being pushed out of a real-estate transaction.

After learning that the company president (Al Pacino) is vacationing in Florida, Tony instead rants to his son and heir apparent, Dick (Dacre Montgomery). Tony eventually rigs a contraption around Dick’s neck that will automatically discharge a gun to his head if he tries to escape. It also limits the ability of authorities to intervene.

“The whole city is gonna know how big of a crook your dad was,” Tony exclaims as he begins a multi-day hostage episode that attracts plenty of police and media attention by design — even prompting the involvement of a cool radio host (Colman Domingo) whose show Tony admires into the negotiations. But what is the endgame?

Along the way, you get the impression that his desperation and despair is driven by more than just a single business deal gone bad. His scheme is both brazenly audacious and woefully misguided — and whether it’s justified is debatable.

The film captures an evocative sense of time and place, employing a gritty throwback visual aesthetic reminiscent of crime thrillers from a past generation.

Skarsgard (It) brings a loose-cannon charisma to the impulsive Tony, while Pacino makes the most of his limited screen time as the slimy and callous bigwig. Some of the periphery characters and subplots are more of a distraction than an enhancement.

Still, the film builds steady tension when it remains focused on the central conflict — and its titular device — even if you know the eventual outcome.

As it blurs the line between heroes and villains, Dead Man’s Wire offers a captivating probe of justice and morality, and how they don’t always intersect.

Rated R, 104 minutes.