In the digital streaming era, one of the biggest flexes an artist can have is being a member of Spotify’s Billions Club, a playlist that highlights every song that has been streamed more than 1 billion times on the platform. Among the nearly 500 artists who have graced the glorified list are Mariah Carey (“All I Want for Christmas Is You”), Rihanna (“Needed Me”), Fleetwood Mac (“Dreams”), Kendrick Lamar (“All the Stars” featuring SZA), Billie Eilish (“Ocean Eyes”), but the distinction of having the most tracks — 24 to be exact — to hit 1 billion streams on Spotify belongs to the Weeknd.
To commemorate this milestone, the Toronto pop star teamed up with Spotify to host an intimate, invite-only concert with nearly 2,000 of his biggest fans — his top 10% listeners on the platform — on Tuesday night at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.
“It’s a little holiday gift for the OG XO fans supporting me [since] Day 1,” the Weeknd said during his 70-minute set. “2024 is almost done, but 2025, we got some new s— coming out. New album. New tour. New movie. New everything. We’re shutting this s— down.” His upcoming album “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” which is the third and final installment of his “After Hours” / “Dawn FM” trilogy,” will be supported by a psychological thriller starring the singer born Abel Tesfaye, alongside Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan.
With the support of his longtime collaborator Mike Dean (on the keys) and guitarist Patrick Greenaway, the Weeknd performed 20 of the 24 songs that landed him on the Billions Club playlist including “Blinding Lights” (the most streamed song on Spotify), “The Hills,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” and “After Hours.” He also performed three additional songs for the energetic crowd, who knew every word, including “São Paulo,” “Timeless,” and “Wicked Games.”
“I know that song didn’t hit a billion, but I felt like I had to do it,” he said about “Wicked Games.” “It’s necessary, at least one ‘House of Balloons’ song.”
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Fans started lining up overnight at 4 a.m. for the highly anticipated show and a few folks traveled from Newark, N.J., for the chance to get inside even though they didn’t have tickets to the event. (Unfortunately, the aforementioned Jersey fans didn’t make it inside because they didn’t have a ticket.) The special night featured food trucks including L.A.’s beloved Kogi Korean BBQ, an open bar (for attendees 21 and up) and the Weeknd merchandise — all of which was free to attendees.
Fans take photos at the Weeknd’s show with Spotify on Tuesday at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
For an international superstar like the Weeknd, who regularly sells out arenas and stadiums around the globe, the event was a chance for fans to experience his music in a personal setting. In fact, it was likely the first time since his early days that he’s performed for an audience of fewer than 2,000 people. “It feels like back in the ‘Kiss Land’ tour,” he said. “Maybe after the stadium tour, we’ll go back to smaller venues. I like this.”
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Ashley Graver, who leads artist partnerships and is head of pop, dance and indie at Spotify, says the Weeknd and his team were involved throughout the entire process of putting together the show, including on the merch design, stage and sound design.
“This milestone really shows how massive the Weeknd’s impact is around the world,” she said. “His success is a testament to his artistry and his constant drive to push creative boundaries. Right now, ‘Blinding Lights’ is the most-streamed song on Spotify, even four years after it came out, which just goes to show how much staying power he has and how loyal his fans are.”
Before the show, we caught up with attendees to ask them about their fandom and what it means to be invited to such an exclusive event.
Elijah Shen Muralles, 21, left, and Cole Dizon, 20, attend the Weeknd’s show with Spotify on Tuesday in Santa Monica.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
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Cole Dizon and Elijah Shen Muralles
Age: Dizon: 20 Shen Muralles: 21
Neighborhood: Dizon: Lancaster Shen Muralles: South Gate
How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? Dizon: About two years ago, one of my friends showed me a few songs — some of the mainstream ones like “Die For You” and “Blinding Lights.” I knew he was a household name, but once I started getting into the groove of it, I was like “OK, he’s pretty good.” Eventually, I went to his Spotify profile and started listening to more of his songs. I was like, “Hold on. I can see why he’s so popular. The trend has motion to it.” So I started listening to him more and more.
Shen Muralles: I would hear him here and there and he was always one of the big celebrities, but I didn’t really get deep into it until maybe like a year or two ago. My friend was just blasting his music all the time and I was like, “You know what, I’m going to hear this artist out.” After a few songs, I realized, “Oh my gosh. He’s one of the best sounding artists I’ve ever heard. I should’ve hopped onto the bandwagon sooner.”
What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? Dizon: “I Feel It Coming.” Daft Punk is a classic. When the song dropped, I wasn’t on the bandwagon yet but listening to it recently I was like, first off, I remember this song. [Secondly], I’ve been sleeping on this because this is straight heat.
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Shen Muralles: “House of Balloons.” I’m a big fan of the first half. The second half is still really good. However, I think the first half, it’s just the beat, the lyrics, it really just gets me in the mood. Also, “Stargirl Interlude.” I’m a bit of a Lana Del Rey fan. Her voice just hard carries that song.
How does it feel to be at this exclusive show? Dizon: It’s super surreal. When I got the email [invite] from Spotify, I didn’t believe it was real… We got here and saw the line and I was like, “Holy smokes! This is actually legitimate.” We were stressing in line cause we thought we weren’t going to get in… I’m going to see him in like four weeks from now [at his tour], so to me this is not only a wonderful surprise, but it’s a great love letter to his fans.
Shen Muralles: I’m not one to drop a whole lot of money to go to concerts, so to get to come to something like this with Spotify is like, “Wow, this is crazy.” I’m just so grateful to be here because this is like a once in a lifetime opportunity for me… This is a Christmas gift right here.
Friends America Maldonado, left, Maya Garcia and Kessai Suksanguan were among the first people in line at the Weeknd’s Spotify show in Santa Monica.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
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America Maldonado, Maya Garcia and Kessai Suksanguan
Age: Maldonado: 21 Garcia: 21 Suksanguan: 19
Neighborhood: Maldonado: Downtown L.A. Garcia: Bellflower Suksanguan: Long Beach
How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? Maldonado: Since I was 13. I would listen to his mixtapes.
Garcia: Probably since middle school.
Suksanguan: Around middle school. I would hear him a lot on the radio.
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What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? Maldonado: “Adaptation.” It’s just a beautiful story. If you listen to [the album] “Kiss Land,” every song ends and it just continues on with the story.
Garcia: I know it’s basic, but I’m going to say “Earned It.” It’s super catchy and it highlights his voice, which I love.
Suksanguan: “After Hours.” I really like the style of that whole album and that time period for him.
How does it feel to be at this exclusive show? Maldonado: It feels amazing. Unfortunately, I’ve only seen him perform live twice. I’ve been listening to him for so long, but to be a part of this free event where I feel comfortable, is great.
Garcia: I’m honestly so glad that he’s doing this show in L.A. I just love being here in L.A.
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Suksanguan: I think it’s just really special that it was free and invite only, so it makes us feel really wanted and really special. And the fact that it’s close to us too, it’s really convenient.
Hamza Akmal, left, Adeeb Ali and Ameer Ali attend the Weeknd’s Billions Club show in collaboration with Spotify on Tuesday at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Hamza Akmal, Adeeb Ali and Ameer Ali
Age: Ameer: 25 Adeeb: 28 Akmal: 29
Neighborhood: Ameer: Whittier Adeeb: West Covina Akmal: Culver City
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How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? Ameer: The Drake collabs made me a fan. The songs were very unique. I’d never heard anything like that at the time. Adeeb: I became a fan when I heard him on “Crew Love” with Drake. I was like, “This guy is good.” Akmal: I became a fan around high school [around] like 2011. A couple of my friends liked to explore a lot of new music and they told me to check him out, so I’ve been listening since then.
What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? Ameer: I’m a big Michael Jackson fan. I love how the Weeknd did “Dirty Diana” [with his song] “D.D.” Adeeb: “Out of Time.” It’s just so pretty. He sampled some Japanese city pop and it sounded really nice. Akmal: Probably “The Hills.” It’s just too catchy for me. I just love the beat of it and everything.
How does it feel to be at this exclusive show? Ameer: It’s exciting. Adeeb: It seemed a little too good to be true. I was like, “Are we being set up right now?” And like, no, it’s just super cool. Akmal: Coming to this, I didn’t really know what to expect, but based on what I’m seeing, it’s really cool to be here.
Mother and daughter, Kenyah Moore, 18, and Shenita Moore, 48, attend a show put on by Spotify to celebrate the Weeknd on Tuesday.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
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Shenita and Kenyah Moore
Age: Kenyah: 18 Shenita: 48
Neighborhood: Kenyah: Santa Monica Shenita: Santa Monica
How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? Kenyah: He’s just always been there. Growing up, he’s one of the most popular artists of my generation. Shenita: I’m just here supporting her, but I am familiar with his music.
What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? Kenyah: “In the Night.” I like the story that it tells.
How does it feel to be at this exclusive show? Kenyah: I’m glad I saw the email. It’s a pretty cool thing that he achieved — to get that many songs over 1 billion [streams].
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Grace Chandler, left, Jessie Sheridan and Isabella Elsesser were among the nearly 2,000 fans who were invited to attend the Weeknd’s Spotify show.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Grace Chandler, Jessie Sheridan and Isabella Elsesser
Age: Chandler: 20 Sheridan: 20 Elsesser: 19
Neighborhood: Chandler: Long Beach Sheridan: San Luis Obispo Elsesser: Long Beach
How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? Chandler: It had to have been when I was in the fifth grade when “The Hills” came out. Everyone was singing that song and I would play it 24/7 with my mom and my sister. Respectfully. It was just the beat. It just started from there.
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Sheridan: Since the third grade. My sister put me on. I have no idea what album it was, but that was my life. I’ve been singing his music since the third grade. He will always and forever be my guy.
Elsesser: I heard about him from “The Hills” but it was the Echos Remix. There’s a woman who sings it in a house, dubstep kind of way and I was always into dubstep. I was like, “Yes. Yes. I love this.”
What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? Chandler: “Stargirl Interlude” and “Save Your Tears.” Sheridan: “Stargirl Interlude.” Elsesser: “The Morning” [starts singing song]. It’s empowering. I feel like I’m the girl. I’m like “Yeah, I’m the money. I’m the motive.” I also love “São Paulo” with Anitta. It’s so fire.
How does it feel to be at this exclusive show? Chandler: Unreal! Sheridan: So exciting. Elsesser: I’m excited to dance.
Zachary Cutting, 37, of Belmont, Calif., wears an exclusive hoodie from the Weeknd’s Spotify Billions Club performance on Tuesday.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
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Zachary Cutting
Age: 37
Neighborhood: Belmont, Calif.
How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? I was doing security at the Fonda Theatre, but he wasn’t popular yet. I heard him performing. He did the “Dirty Diana” song and I liked that, so from then on, I followed his career and I’ve been a fan ever since.
What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? “Is There Someone Else?” Sometimes I be wondering… with the person I’m talking to, like, “Is there someone else?” [laughs]
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How does it feel to be at this exclusive show? I’ve only seen him perform that one time, so I’m excited.
Carmen Flores, 25, and Marco De La Cruz, 26, of Maywood arrived at the Barker Hangar early so they could attend the Weeknd’s Billions Club show with Spotify.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Carmen Flores and Marco De La Cruz
Age: Flores: 25 De La Cruz: 26
Neighborhood: Maywood
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How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? Flores: I think I was in middle school. My sister asked if I ever heard of his music.
De La Cruz: Around 2015-2016, probably during the “Trilogy” era.
What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? Flores: “Faith.” First of all, I think it’s a very fun song. Just meaning of faith and how it transitions into [the next song, “Blinding Lights”]. It’s very underrated.
De La Cruz: “After Hours.” Just the whole production on that song and his vocals.
How does it feel to be at this exclusive show? Flores: It means everything. But I will be seeing him again next month and I also saw him with Mike Dean on March 1 at the Wiltern when he came out with Travis Scott and it was the best thing ever.
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David Reyes, 19, of Riverside became a fan of the Weeknd after his sister put him onto the pop star’s “Starboy” album.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
David Reyes
Age: 19
Neighborhood: Riverside
How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? My sister put me on when “Starboy” came out. She always played it.
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What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? “Die For You” for sure. It’s just a classic. 10/10.
How does it feel to be at this exclusive show? It’s very unique how Spotify and Abel are doing this for his fans. It’s just cool how artists actually care for their fans.
Catherine Carrasco, 25, and Jonathan Serna, 26, were among the first fans in line at the Weeknd’s exclusive Billions Club show put on by Spotify.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Jonathan Serna and Catherine Carrasco
Age: Carrasco: 25 Serna: 26
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Neighborhood: Carrasco: Santa Ana Serna: Santa Ana
How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? Carrasco: In 2015. I was a sophomore in high school. I think the first song that I listened to by him was “The Morning” and I got introduced to his music by an ex-boyfriend. [laughs] I got this hoodie a while ago and then his first concert I went to was the “Starboy” [tour]. Serna: When “Starboy” released, I kept listening to it on repeat like crazy. After that, I listened to everything he’s made and I became a fan. I wasn’t a big fan until “After Hours” [though].
What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? Carrasco: That’s such a hard question. I think “The Birds Pt. 1” and Pt. 2. I love every song by him, but I have those on repeat. He’s No. 1 on my Spotify Wrapped every year. Serna: “After Hours.” He was No. 1 on my Wrapped.
How does it feel to be at this exclusive show? Carrasco: I’m like shaking. I’m excited. I’ve seen him a couple of times, but this is a free event. Serna: It’s amazing. I didn’t think I was going to get it. When I got the [email], I just went on break at my job. They gave you like 20 minutes to respond and I know she would’ve killed me if I didn’t.
Katherine Martinez, left, Jorge Martinez and Angelina Bomar flew to L.A. from New Jersey for the chance to attend the Weeknd’s Spotify show.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
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Jorge Martinez
Age: 20
Neighborhood: We live in Newark, N.J. I saw a couple of TikToks like two days ago about the Spotify event. Unfortunately, we’re on Apple Music so we didn’t get the invite, but I was like maybe Abel might stop and sign our vinyl. She has on her “After Hours” hoodie. We came here for the SoFi show in November for the three-year anniversary. [Then we came back for this], so we traveled a long way.
How long have you been a fan of the Weeknd? I’ve been a big fan since “After Hours” came out. It was really good. It was a dream seeing him in concert [at his recent show]. The next dream is hopefully meeting him.
What’s your favorite song by the Weeknd? “After Hours.” The way it slowly transitions to the beat drop — I like the 808s.
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You flew out to L.A. just for the chance to see the show even though you don’t have tickets. Why was it important to you? It would mean a lot for us to make it inside of the show or even to meet him, that would be amazing too. We’re planning to maybe fly out to the Rose Bowl show. But we got to try it out.
[Unfortunately, Jorge, his girlfriend and sister didn’t make it inside of the show because they didn’t have tickets.]
A still from ‘Song Sung Blue’.
| Photo Credit: Focus Features/YouTube
There is something unputdownable about Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) from the first moment one sees him at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting celebrating his 20th sober birthday. He encourages the group to sing the famous Neil Diamond number, ‘Song Sung Blue,’ with him, and we are carried along on a wave of his enthusiasm.
Song Sung Blue (English)
Director: Craig Brewer
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Michael Imperioli, Ella Anderson, Mustafa Shakir, Fisher Stevens, Jim Belushi
Runtime: 132 minutes
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Storyline: Mike and Claire find and rescue each other from the slings and arrows of mediocrity when they form a Neil Diamond tribute band
We learn that Mike is a music impersonator who refuses to come on stage as anyone but himself, Lightning, at the Wisconsin State Fair. At the fair, he meets Claire (Kate Hudson), who is performing as Patsy Cline. Sparks fly between the two, and Claire suggests Mike perform a Neil Diamond tribute.
Claire and Mike start a relationship and a Neil Diamond tribute band, called Lightning and Thunder. They marry and after some initial hesitation, Claire’s children from her first marriage, Rachel (Ella Anderson) and Dayna (Hudson Hensley), and Mike’s daughter from an earlier marriage, Angelina (King Princess), become friends.
Members from Mike’s old band join the group, including Mark Shurilla (Michael Imperioli), a Buddy Holly impersonator and Sex Machine (Mustafa Shakir), who sings as James Brown. His dentist/manager, Dave Watson (Fisher Stevens), believes in him, even fixing his tooth with a little lightning bolt!
The tribute band meets with success, including opening for Pearl Jam, with the front man for the grunge band, Eddie Vedder (John Beckwith), joining Lightning and Thunder for a rendition of ‘Forever in Blue Jeans’ at the 1995 Pearl Jam concert in Milwaukee.
There is heartbreak, anger, addiction, and the rise again before the final tragedy. Song Sung Blue, based on Greg Kohs’ eponymous documentary, is a gentle look into a musician’s life. When Mike says, “I’m not a songwriter. I’m not a sex symbol. But I am an entertainer,” he shows that dreams do not have to die. Mike and Claire reveal that even if you do not conquer the world like a rock god, you can achieve success doing what makes you happy.
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ALSO READ: ‘Run Away’ series review: Perfect pulp to kick off the New Year
Song Sung Blue is a validation for all the regular folk with modest dreams, but dreams nevertheless. As the poet said, “there’s no success like failure, and failure’s no success at all.” Hudson and Jackman power through the songs and tears like champs, leaving us laughing, tapping our feet, and wiping away the errant tears all at once.
The period detail is spot on (never mind the distracting wigs). The chance to hear a generous catalogue of Diamond’s music in arena-quality sound is not to be missed, in a movie that offers a satisfying catharsis. Music is most definitely the food of love, so may we all please have a second and third helping?
Stephen A. Smith is arguably the most-well known sports commentator in the country. But the outspoken ESPN commentator’s perspective outside the sports arena has landed him in a firestorm.
The furor is due to his pointed comments defending an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot a Minneapolis woman driving away from him.
Just hours after the shooting on Wednesday, Smith said on his SiriusXM “Straight Shooter” talk show that although the killing of Renee Nicole Good was “completely unnecessary,” he added that the agent “from a lawful perspective” was “completely justified” in firing his gun at her.
He also noted, “From a humanitarian perspective, however, why did he have to do that?”
Smith’s comments about the agent being in harm’s way echoed the views of Deputy of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said Good engaged in an “act of domestic terrorism” by attacking officers and attempting to run them over with her vehicle.
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However, videos showing the incident from different angles indicate that the agent was not standing directly in front of Good’s vehicle when he opened fire on her. Local officials contend that Good posed no danger to ICE officers. A video posted by partisan media outlet Alpha News showed Good talking to agents before the shooting, saying, “I’m not mad at you.”
The shooting has sparked major protests and accusations from local officials that the presence of ICE has been disruptive and escalated violence. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye condemned ICE, telling agents to “get the f— out of our city.”
The incident, in turn, has put a harsher spotlight on Smith, raising questions on whether he was reckless or irresponsible in offering his views on Good’s shooting when he had no direct knowledge of what had transpired.
An angered Smith appeared on his “Straight Shooter” show on YouTube on Friday, saying the full context of his comments had not been conveyed in media reports, specifically calling out the New York Post and media personality Keith Olbermann, while saying that people were trying to get him fired.
He also doubled down on his contention that Good provoked the situation that led to her death, saying the ICE agent was in front of Good’s car and would have been run over had he not stepped out of the way.
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“In the moment when you are dealing with law enforcement officials, you obey their orders so you can get home safely,” he said. “Renee Good did not do that.”
When reached for comment about his statements, a representative for Smith said his response was in Friday’s show.
It’s not the first time Smith, who has suggested he’s interesting in going into politics, has sparked outside the sports universe. He and journalist Joy Reid publicly quarreled following her exit last year from MSNBC.
He also faced backlash from Black media personalities and others when he accused Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas of using “street verbiage” in her frequent criticisms of President Trump.
“The way that Jasmine Crockett chooses to express herself … Aren’t you there to try and get stuff done instead of just being an impediment? ‘I’m just going to go off about Trump, cuss him out every chance I get, say the most derogatory things imaginable, and that’s my day’s work?’ That ain’t work! Work is, this is the man in power. I know what his agenda is. Maybe I try to work with this man. I might get something out of it for my constituents.’ ”
In 1977, a man named Tony Kiritsis fell behind on mortgage payments for an Indianapolis, Indiana, property that he hoped to develop into an affordable shopping center for independent merchants. He asked his mortgage broker for more time, but was denied. This enraged him because he suspected that the broker and his father, who owned the company, were conspiring to defraud him by letting the property go into foreclosure and acquire it for much less than market value. He showed up at the offices of the mortgage company, Meridian, for a scheduled appointment regarding the debt in the broker’s office, where he took the broker, Richard O. Hall, hostage, and demanded $130,000 to settle the debt, plus a public apology from the company. He carried a long cardboard box containing a shotgun with a so-called dead man’s wire, which he affixed to Hall as a precaution against police interference: if either of them were shot, tackled, or even caused to stumble, the wire would pull the trigger, blowing Hall’s head off.
That’s only the beginning of an astonishing story that has inspired many retellings, including a memoir by Hall, a 2018 documentary (whose producers were consultants on this movie) and a podcast drama starring Jon Hamm as Tony Kiritsis. And now it’s the best current movie you likely haven’t heard about—a drama from director Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting”), starring Bill Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis and Dacre Montgomery as Richard Hall. It’s unabashedly inspired by the best crime dramas from the 1970s, including “Dog Day Afternoon,” “The Sugarland Express,” “Network,” and “Badlands,” and can stand proudly alongside them.
From the opening sequence, which scores the high-strung Tony’s pre-crime prep with Deodato’s immortally groovy disco version of “Thus Spake Zarathustra” played on the radio by one of Tony’s local heroes, the philosophical DJ Fred Temple (Colman Domingo); through the expansive middle section, which establishes Tony as part of a thriving community that will see him as their representative in the one-sided struggle between labor and capital; through the ending and postscript, which leave you unsure how to feel about what you’ve seen but eager to discuss it with others, “Dead Man’s Wire” is a nostalgia trip of the best kind. Rather than superficially imitate the style of a specific type of ’70s drama, Van Sant and his collaborators connect with the essence of what made them powerful and memorable: their connection to issues that weighed on viewers’ minds fifty years ago and that have grown heavier since.
Tony is far from a criminal genius or a potential folk hero, but thinks he’s both. The shotgun box with a weird bulge, barely held together with packing tape, is a correlative of the mentality of the man who carries it. His home is filled with counterculture-adjacent books, but he’s a slob who loudly gripes during a brief car ride that his “shorts have been ridin’ up since Market Street,” and has a vanity license plate that reads “TOPLESS.” His eloquence runs the gamut from Everyman acuity to self-canceling nonsense slathered in profanity . He accurately sums up the mortgage company’s practices as “a private equity trap” (a phrase that looks ahead to the 2008 financial collapse, which was sparked by predatory lending on subprime mortgages) and hopes that his extreme actions will generate some “some goddamn catharsis” for himself and his fellow citizens, and “some genuine guilt” among Indianapolis’ lending class.
He’s also intoxicated by his sudden local fame. The hostage situation migrates from the mortgage company to Tony’s shabby apartment complex, which is quickly surrounded by beat cops, tactical officers, and reporters (including Myha’La as Linda Page, a twenty-something, Black local TV correspondent looking to move up. Tony also forces his way into the life of his idol Temple, who tapes a phone conversation with him, previews it for police, and grudgingly accepts their or-else request to continue the dialog and plays their regular talks on his morning show.
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Despite these inroads, Tony is unable to prevent his inner petty schmuck from emerging and undermining his message, such as it is. He vacillates between treating Hall as a useless representative of the financial elite (when the elder Hall finally agrees to speak with Tony via phone from a tropical vacation, Tony sneers to Hall the younger, “Your daddy’s on the line—he wants to know when you’ll be home for supper!”) and connecting with him on a human level. When he’s not bombastic, he’s needy and fawning. “I like you!” he keeps telling people he just met, but Fred most of all—as if a Black man who’d built a comfortable life for himself and his wife in 1977 Indiana could say no when an overwhelmingly white police force asked him to become Tony’s fake-confidant; and as if it matters whether a hostage-taking gunman feels warmly towards him.
Ultimately, though, making perfect sense and effecting lasting change are no higher on Tony’s agenda than they were for the protagonists of “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Network.” Like them, these are unhinged audience surrogates whose media stardom turned them into human megaphones for anger at the miserable state of things, and the indifference of institutions that caused or worsened it. These include local law enforcement, which—to paraphrase hapless bank robber Sonny Wirtzik taunting cops in “Dog Day Afternoon”—wanna kill Tony so bad that they can taste it. The discussions between Indianapolis police and the FBI (represented by Neil Mulac’s Agent Patrick Mullaney, a straight-outta-Quantico robot) are all about how to set up and take the kill shot.
The aforementioned phone call leads to a gut-wrenching moment that echoes the then-recent kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, when hostage-takers called their victim’s wealthy grandfather to arrange ransom payment, and got nickel-and-dimed as if they were trying to sell him a used car. The elder Hall is played by “Dog Day Afternoon” star Al Pacino, inspired casting that not only officially connects Tony with Wirtzik but proves that, at 85, Pacino can still bring the heat. The character’s presence creeps into the rest of the story like a toxic fog, even when he’s not the subject of conversation.
With his frizzy grey toupee, self-satisfied Midwest twang, and punchable smirk, Pacino is skin-crawlingly perfect as an old man who built a fortune on being good at one thing, but thinks that makes him a fountain of wisdom on all things, including the conduct of Real Men in a land of women and sissies. After watching TV coverage of Tony getting emotional while keeping his shotgun on Richard, Jr., he beams with pride that Tony shed tears but his own son didn’t. (Kelly Lynch, who costarred in another classic Van Sant film about American losers, “Drugstore Cowboy,” plays Richard, Sr.’s trophy wife, who is appalled at being confronted with irrefutable evidence of her husband’s monstrousness, but still won’t say a word against him.)
Van Sant was 25 during the real-life incidents that inspired this movie. That may partly account for the physical realism of the production, which doesn’t feel created but merely observed, in the manner of ’70s movies whose authenticity was strengthened by letting the main characters’ dialogue overlap and compete with ambient sounds; shooting in existing locations when possible, and dressing the actors in clothes that looked as if they’d been hanging in regular folks’ closets for years. Peggy Schnitzer did the costumes, Stefan Dechant the production design, and Arnaud Poiter the cinematography, all of which figuratively wear bell-bottom pants and platform shoes; the soundscape was overseen by Leslie Schatz, who keeps the environments believably dense and filled with incidental sounds while making sure the important stuff can be understood. It should also be mentioned that the film’s blueprint is an original script by a first-timer, Adam Kolodny, with a bona-fide working class worldview; he wrote it while working as a custodian at the Los Angeles Zoo.
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More impressive than the film’s behind-the-scenes pedigree is its vision of another time that unexpectedly comes to seem not too different from this one. It is both a lovingly constructed time machine highlighting details that now seem as antiquated as lithography and buckboard wagons (the film deserves a special Oscar just for its phones) and a wide-ranging consideration of indestructible realities of life in the United States, which are highlighted in such a way that you notice them without feeling as if the movie pointed at them.
For instance, consider Tony’s infatuation with Fred Temple, which peaks when Tony honors his hero by demonstrating his “soul dancing” for his hostage, is a pre-Internet version of what we would now call a “parasocial relationship.” An awareness of racial dynamics is baked into this, and into the film as a whole. Domingo’s performance as Temple captures the tightrope walk that Black celebrities have to pull off, reassuring their most excitable white fans that they understand and care about them without cosigning condescension or behavior that could escalate into harassment. Consider, too, the matter-of-fact presentation of how easy it is for violence-prone people to buddy up to law enforcement officers, especially when they inhabit the same spaces. When Indianapolis police detective Will Grable (Cary Elwes) approaches Tony on a public street soon after the kidnapping, Tony’s face brightens as he exclaims, “Hi Mike! Nice to see you!”
And then, of course, there’s the economic and political framework, which is built with a firm yet delicate hand, and compassion for the vibrant messiness of life. “Dead Man’s Wire” depicts an analog era in which crises like this one were treated as important local matters that involved local people, businesses, and government agents, rather than fuel for a global agitprop industry posing as a news media, and a parasitic army of self-proclaimed influencers reycling the work of other influencers for clout. Van Sant’s movie continually insists on the uniqueness and value of every life shown onscreen, however briefly glimpsed, from the many unnamed citizens who are shown silently watching news coverage of the crisis while working their day jobs, to Fred’s right hand at the radio station, an Asian-American stoner dude (Vinh Nguyen) with a closet-sized office who talent-scouts unknown bands while exhaling cumulus clouds of pot smoke.
All this is drawn together by Van Sant and editor Saar Klein in pop music-driven montages that show how every member of the community depicted in this story is connected, even if they don’t know it or refuse to admit it. As John Donne put it, “No man is an island/Entire of itself/Each is a piece of the continent/A part of the main.” The struggle of the individual is summed up in one of Fred’s hypnotic radio monologues: “Let’s remember to become the ocean, not disappear into it.”
