Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (October 10, 2022)
Because health issues caused his retirement from acting, we come with a finite roster of Bruce Willis movies left to reach audiences. For another of these, we go to 2022’s Wire Room.
Homeland Security operates a “Wire Room” through which they keep tabs on various threats. Veteran Agent Shane Mueller (Willis) runs this operation.
On his first day in the Wire Room, Justin Rosa (Kevin Dillon) watches arms smuggler Eddie Flynn (Oliver Trevena) and finds himself in a difficult position when a paramilitary team descends on the criminal. This leads to a mix of confrontations and threats.
After a slow start to his career, director Matt Eskandari apparently now enjoys a niche as the go-to guy for inexpensive direct-to-video thrillers. Wire acts as his fourth flick in this vein over four years, all of which involve Willis.
The news that Willis suffers from cognitive impairments altered how I and others addressed his performances. Before that announcement, it felt like fair game to assail his detached, phoned-in work, but with knowledge of his struggles, this seemed unfair.
I’ve seen enough of these direct-to-video thrillers to know I should expect little from them – and less from Willis in them. That said, I can’t help but hope that one of the flicks might show some signs of the Willis we loved over the years.
Unfortunately, the farther into Willis’s final flicks we go, the worse he becomes. His problems seem more obvious with each new movie, and this means the Willis of Room comes as a disconnected shell.
Sad as this seems, Willis doesn’t harm Room. Partly that occurs because he doesn’t spend much time on screen.
With most of his twilight years direct-to-video efforts, Willis got gigs that required little time on the set. That continues here, so don’t expect much screentime from the actor.
We do find lots of Dillon, and he continues what appears to be his new trend of “chair acting”. Dillon spends almost all of Room stuck passively in the titular facility, and that also became the case with Hot Seat, a recent effort.
I suspect Dillon took both roles mainly because they gave the veteran character actor lead status, but they also didn’t require much from him. Though he spends a lot of time on-screen, Dillon doesn’t have to change costumes or go to different locations, which seems like a relatively easy gig.
Perhaps too easy, as Dillon does little to invest in his part. Dillon seems oddly broad and almost campy, so he fails to offer an even vaguely convincing turn as a federal agent.
Then there’s Trevena, who resembles a hopped-up Irish version of Jason Statham. While Dillon goes hammy, Trevena puts him to shame, as he delivers a wildly overdone performance that makes Eddie look batcrap crazy.
Perhaps Dillon and Trevena recognized the script’s weaknesses and figured that over the top performances might save the film. They don’t, and indeed, the screenplay’s multiple weaknesses just seem more obvious when the actors emote so heavily.
Brandon Stiefer’s text feels like a first draft that no one bothered to rework. The script sticks in acres of clumsy exposition along with laughable dialogue and “twists” that wouldn’t surprise a toddler.
Really, I don’t ask much from a movie like Wire Room beyond basic competence and maybe a modicum of entertainment value. Unfortunately, the film can’t even live up to those extremely low hopes.
