Lamplight Drivel

2025's DEAD MAN'S WIRE has been compared to DOG DAY AFTERNOON in many quarters and it's easy to see why.  The plot does not involve a robbery but indeed has a kidnapping that draws media attention.  It is also based on a true story and takes place in the gritty old 1970s.  Director Gus Van Sant also takes a cue or two from Sidney Lumet.  And even Al Pacino is in it. Indianapolis, 1977.  Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgard) was an Everyman who blamed the Meridian Mortgage Company for cheating him out of potential profit from some land he bought, developed into a shopping center.  Blamed them for forcing him into default and deliberately scaring off promising retail tenants.  One day Tony arrives for a meeting with broker M.L. Hall (Al Pacino), only to be met by M.L.'s son Richard (Dacre Montgomery).  We learn dad is on vacation in Florida.  Tony quickly reveals he's here to get restitution.  He rigs a wire attached to a shotgun to Richard's nec...