Life on the Line (2015) Reviews

• An insult to real Lineman

  cooperms2016-05-27

  As a past linesman (lineman) and instructor for trainee linesmen, I was intrigued to watch this movie and then appalled at the portrayal of these workers as hard ass, boozed-up bar brawlers. It can be a hazardous job, but I had a four year traineeship and the linesman I worked with were highly trained and not gung-ho rednecks as portrayed in this movie. How a guy that seemingly had just attempted suicide was allowed to just drive home from work afterwards - seriously!! The final scene was ridiculous on so many levels and anyone with even a basic knowledge of power systems would know that (i) you don't power up a city via an isolating switch; (ii) when JT jumped on the switch and pushed it closed would have created a short circuit that would have taken the line protection out, not restored power; and (iii) the guys in the control room cheering as if Bruce Willis had just saved the world in Armageddon - SAVE ME! I think this movie makes a mockery of highly trained safety professionals and does not celebrate their memory at all. Just goes to show how out of touch Hollywood actors are with the real world. But if Lineman in the United States are a bunch of redneck, boozy, bar-brawlers (and I seriously doubt that) then they would love it.

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• A little realism would be appreciated

  spencer_hamons2018-01-06

  I realize this is a movie, but some level of realism is expected to make it believable. Not only does the movie show all kinds of ridiculous electrical mistakes with the grid / system, but of course...because linemen are blue collar workers, they have to be portrayed as drunkards and complete idiots. To top it off, the producers can't even attempt to get the geography close to what is supposed to be portrayed in the story. Trust me, there are no oceans, massive lakes, or mountains around Lubbock. And, any major storm coming in off the Gulf of Mexico would take at least a day to make it halfway across Texas. Again, I realize it is a movie, but at least TRY people. Don't pay to watch this film, rather watch it on Amazon Prime or some way you get to see it for free. It's okay to watch on the couch one day when you aren't feeling well...it is at least better than reality-TV...but not by much.

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• Like Playing Jenga with Movie Clichés

  leftbanker-12016-05-24

  If they missed a single clichés for drama movies then I probably missed that because I was fast-forwarding. This movie looks like an expensive teaching tool for a film school basic class on screen writing. The grizzled old veteran and the young punk trying to make a name for himself are just two of the tired, over-done themes dealt with on screen. There are dozens more so be prepared for the worst. It got so bad that at one point I lost track of which John Travolta direct-to-DVD movie I was watching. The terrible thing is that I actually like him as an actor but he makes such stupid movies these days. Does he have an agent? Does he have a pile of gambling debts that require him to take every piece-or-crap role offered to him? If you are looking for even a moment of originality then this just isn't the film for you.

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• Everyone else who made this movie have no idea about the technical aspects of the job as lineman

  marrky-894722016-06-04

  Obviously, none of the film crew and none of the actors as well understand what they were making. This is obviously soooooo wrong. I mean, they should have researched more before making this movie. I am sure all linesmen and those who are in the power generation, distribution, and transmission industry laughed sooo much they died right after watching this movie. This is so horrible and insulting to those who are in the industry. This is my first movie review by the way. I just thought that I might be able to spare other people's time from watching this horrible movie especially those who understand how electricity is being generated, distributed, and transmitted.

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• Travolta must've thought he was auditioning for Wild Hogs 2...

  FlashCallahan2016-06-23

  If it wasn't for Travolta's screen presence, this would have been one of those TV movies of the week that pop up on Channel 5 in the week when nothing else is on. The film is set up with so many clichés, you'd think the makers of the film were doing it for a laugh. We start in the past, and it's Travolta's birthday, and because he's such a hard working linesman, he cuts short his celebrations and helps to fix a line. But in doing so, kills his best friend. And if that wasn't the icing on the cake, his best friends wife gets killed on the way to the hospital. You just couldn't script it could you? Anyway, he takes their daughter in who grows up to be Kate Bosworth pretending to be an eighteen year old and they all live happily ever after. Of course they don't. Devon Sawa has remembered that he had a career after Final Destination and turns up as a ne'er do well who was with Bosworth but wants to win her back. So he becomes a linesman. And obviously Travolta hates him more than any illness on the planet. You just couldn't script it could you?. Well it's not boring, but it's such an old fashioned film, this could have been made 60 years ago and starred James Stewart and James Dean, and they wouldn't have had to have changed anything. But the thing that keeps you going until the end is trying to guess, just who is going to die at the hands of the main villain of the film, loose electricity? And there are so many other sub-plots to get your teeth into. Whether it be Julie Benz as a neighbour with a troubled husband, Sharon Stone as Sawa's troubled mother, or a guy troubling Bosworth, to Gil Bellows troubling name, there is so much to choose from. It's a quick pay day for everyone, and I know it's supposed to be a tribute to all the linesman out there, but it all ends up like a rubbish version of Backdraft featuring a character who makes a stupid decision near the end. But it does have at least two theme songs. If it was a cross over with Final Destination though, Sawa could have warned everybody, and we could have had a linesman franchise.

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