Life on the Line (I) (2015) User Reviews

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

[FlashCallahan · 5/10 · 23 June 2016]

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.

Updating Legends

[boblipton · 5/10 · 12 March 2021]

John Travolta is a line man, one of those guys you see in a hard helmet and red vest on power lines, doing something dangerous and obscure.... and the power running. Lives depend on that power, and he's got s pregnant niece, her boyfriend as his new, unobservant apprentice, and a storm on the way.

Watching this attempt to mythologize another form of Texas Hard Man in the aftermath of at least 86 Texans dying because their power grid went out last month.... well it interferes with the impulse; it's hard to print the legend with the facts still fresh in your mind. It's also startling to hear Travolta with a twang overlaying his usual accent, but to my untutored ears, he's pretty good, his face buried under a beard. If's a good updating of the standard western tropes. Perhaps when this year's events have faded, it will seem better.

Option "B" ain't good

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 27 November 2017]

This is based on a true story, we are told and dedicated to the safety conscience linemen who died on the job. The film centers on Beau (John Travolta) a lineman, whose sloppy work, through circumstances ends up killing his brother Danny (Ty Olsson). Danny's wife kisses a truck on her way to the hospital leaving uncle Beau to raise his niece Bailey (Kate Bosworth). 22 years later, bailey has boyfriend issues. Eugene (Ryan Robbins) moves in next door. He has PTSD issues and an alienated wife (Julie Benz). Beau ends up working with Duncan (Devon Sawa) a man he doesn't like because of his relationship with his niece.

The whole faux drama builds up to the "day of the storm" which is the film's unfortunate climax.

On the plus side Travolta has lost his eerily smooth Botox face, but the role didn't suit him, who we have recently seen as a super black ops guy. I know my linemen don't climb poles during a power storm (stupid and unsafe) and my lights rarely come on before the storm is over. The film glosses over the fact our power grid is old and failing because utilities prefer to reap and share profits than reinvest. However, that is changing, one concrete pole at a time and lines moving underground.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

Have booze handy...

[mkfwilliams1967 · 26 February 2017]

and plan to take a shot every time you spot a cliché. Then you'll be drunk early in to this movie and it won't hurt as bad. My husband actually IS a lineman, as was my father, and if I took a shot for every time I heard my husband sigh and shake his head as we watched this, I'd be dead from alcohol poisoning.

An insult to real Lineman

[cooperms · 1/10 · 27 May 2016]

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.

Worth a watch

[shareplayfox · 7/10 · 5 March 2017]

Watched this tonight - Watt a treat, its absolutely shocking, electrifying and keeps pylon on the suspense, it really amps up towards the end, and manages to fuse and splice current day tech with raw acting power, if you want a film that makes you go "ohm my god" you cant do better than this John Tra-volt-a charged joule of a movie. This really sparks the imagination and overloads the senses, worth the watch. Follow it up by watching the new program on the documentary channel about power workers searching the top floor of abandoned power stations for old valuables - Cash in the static.

A little realism would be appreciated

[spencer_hamons · 2/10 · 6 January 2018]

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.

Overall, I liked it

[BrinaCary · 7/10 · 13 February 2018]

I liked it overall due to the lovely acting that really sealed home the emotional key points in most cases. They did have some unresolved subplots though. There's quite a bit more that they could have done with the film; however, they kind of skipped it. It's like they were trying to tell one story, but told another just because of the lack of development with some of the major characters. One example is Bailey. Beau was responsible for the deaths of both her parents and she took it all in stride. It was like she was slightly vapid, which didn't fit since her life was the one on the line. She knew something was wrong when that jerk with the muscle car (Ron) was going into the lady's house; however, she just stood watching. No one in their right mind would assume that the lady was having an affair with the jerk if they had ever met him. Basically, when she followed the husband in the house was the first time she was like "oh, something might be going on here." She had a working cellphone. She should have called the police. It would have saved her from getting shot; however, it would have negated the end of the movie. The ending at the substation was amazing though. Not just because of the spectacularness of Beau's resolution. It was also because he was finally making up for his mistake at the beginning of the film. All in all, I would watch it again.

I honestly don't know where to start..

[sforrester-3 · 2/10 · 18 January 2020]

This film is a mess. Before watching it , I read that a former lineman and founder of a charity for fallen linemen was behind it so I had high hopes. These were quickly dashed. I would have preferred if the film had shown what these men actually do but other than climbing a couple of poles, moving some cables out of the way and someone re-enacting titanic on the top of a pylon, we see not a lot. From what I understand, the technical stuff is mostly wrong and the plot is something we've all seen before. The two lovelorn "kids" in the movie must be in their mid to late thirties and John Travolta's various wigs were more convincing than most of the actors. I hate slagging a film that has been made with a good cause in mind but this was one of the worst films I've seen in a while and probably does a disservice to the men and women who do this dangerous job. I do think this is an interesting subject and I hope one day someone makes a film that does these people justice.

Is kind of a good movie.

[rang-ko · 7/10 · 22 June 2019]

If you expect great movie. This might not be the one. I will honestly say this not a great movie.

I don't really write review most of the time. But, I had to. This one is OK. Talk about family, love and people around you. The lineman. You want to see documentary of the lineman, this is not the one. As many people already criticize this movie doesn't tell you the scientific truth about electricity, and how it works.

Not perfect. Not that great. But, worth watching.

Barely watchable

[jmorrison-2 · 3/10 · 18 December 2019]

The movie has SOME entertainment value to, at least, watch it once; for that I gave it a 3, but, oh my god....

I have read some of the reviews from some actual lineman that testify to how ridiculous this is. The soap opera aspects, the cliched dialog and circumstances that are delivered to us will make you cringe; this is just extremely lazy writing and film-making.

Yes, there is actually a character called "poke-chop", for crying out loud.

The lineman of this country deserve to be recognized, but not like this.

Nice to see a movie about a hero

[navyflir · 8/10 · 31 March 2022]

Feel good movie. Maybe not technically accurate but it is nice to see a move about people who work hard and are willing to risk their lives on a fairly regular basis doing a job that not everyone can do or is willing to even try. The bad reviews miss the point entirely. It is about hard work, sacrifice, personal pride and the love of a man for child and young woman. We need more moves that have a positive theme and make you feel good about your fellow man.

Surprised at all the negative reviews this film was decent.

[Brooklynsmagicmike · 7/10 · 31 December 2020]

Almost avoided this one due to the overwhelming low reviews glad I diddn't listen. It isn't perfect film definitely has some issues but overall its decent watch.

First the movie is definitely not an action film and I'm not sure why its categorized on few things as such. It isn't even thriller either which its second categorization and I think thats what the major disconnect is here with people panning it. The film is really a slow burn drama. It has some engaging/dramatic scenes here and there but for most part its more of showing the lifes of linesmen and what they go through. My brother is a linesmen and while he says everything in film isn't 100% accurate, they did good job dramatizing things. And at least brought there profession into light in which most films revolve around firemen and cops.

The film had good cast who I thought did well with source material. Although I did find an almost mid 30 year old Kate Bosworth playing a young adult a little of odd. The film does get draggy quite bit but thats because it saves everything for last 25 mins which were intense and emotional as well.

Overall its good way to kill some time on weekend and while it might not be best movie its definitely decent watch.

Like Playing Jenga with Movie Clichés

[leftbanker-1 · 3/10 · 24 May 2016]

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.

Not sure if they intended it to be realistic...

[robertcampbell-07777 · 1/10 · 12 December 2016]

I work in the distribution sector as a linemen. This movie is crazy if they intend to show the public what its like to be a linemen.

I laugh it off and am embarrassed when the movie is brought up. It surprises me even more when I found out that the fallen linemen organization is behind this, were they trying to show realistic scenarios? I sure hope not.

I'm generally a fan of Travolta but even he was pretty bad, the acting was poor, but I really blame the dialogue. During the entire movie all I could think is who talks like that? They are constantly forcing the plot and back stories in a lazy manor.

Raises awareness on the occupational dangers of working with power grids

[Gordon-11 · 22 December 2016]

This film tells the story of a foreman of an electricity company in the United States, who is diligent and careful with his job of supervising a group of linesman. The power grid is under threat when a massive storm strikes.

Seeing that this film has John Travolta and went straight to video in some countries, I had low expectations. It actually turned out to be way better than I thought. The story follows him and his niece, who experiences romantic troubles on the small town, where most people seem to work for the same electricity company. The story is engaging and draws me into their world, especially Kate Bosworth's character. I liked the ending too, and I didn't realise that there is an association to help the people who died while servicing power grids. I think this film raises awareness on the grave and try under-recognised dangers of working with the power grid. These workers deserve more appreciation and recognition for their risky job.

Good First Step

[rutzelb · 7/10 · 8 February 2017]

This is based upon true events

A sudden deadly storm comes upon a Texas town and effects Linemen who maintain live hi-tension wires and the electrical grid. Lineman Foreman Beau (John Travolta) wants his niece Bailey (Kate Bosworth) to go to college, but Bailey has other plans. Beau doesn't like Bailey's boyfriend Duncan (Devon Sawa) and now Duncan is hired as a Lineman. Oh, oh……………

When our power goes out we wait for those Lineman to get busy, regardless of the weather, to get our power back. Normally, we don't think of the dangers they face in doing their job. Maybe we should. This movie doesn't really bring this home to us. It gave us a little but could have and should have done more along those lines. Many Linemen die doing their jobs and this is brought out much more in the statements at the end of the movie. The movie should have done more along this line. Bits and pieces are shown until the very end when the Big Storm hits.

Perhaps the problem rests with too much emphasis on the sub-plots with Bailey and her boyfriend Duncan; Beau's next door neighbor Eugene (Ryan Robbins) and his seemingly abandoned wife Carline (Julie Benz); and Ron (Matt Bellefleur) the wannabe boyfriend to Bailey.

The question we have to ask ourselves is were all those sub-plots pertinent to the true events regarding the deadly storm that was about to hit or was the director filling in time? Inquiring minds want to know.

Notables: Gil Bellows as Pork Chop a Lineman on Beau's team; Sharon Stone as Duncan's mother.

However, on the whole, the story does try to bring out the dangers Linemen face on a daily basis especially when the weather is quite stormy. The last scene is a grim reminder of that. We can look at this movie as a good first step. (7/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.

Life Outside the Line would be more accurate

[mtyducs · 1/10 · 15 November 2017]

I was curious to learn about this profession knowing how dangerous it is for the workers. There was literally ten minutes at the most of the linemen working. The rest of the movie is an insanely dumb soap opera....that is far from entertaining. This was one of the few movies in my life that I actually debating turning off. I already wasted 90 minutes watching the movie so I figure I could waste another two minutes writing this review.

Tommy from Shawshank Redemption

[Intermissionman_ · 7/10 · 13 September 2020]

Found this Film on Cinemax based on True Events. John Travolta Stars with Kate Bosworth also Gil Bellows remember Tommy from Shawshank and Devon Sawa from Final Destination. Good Soundtrack and ELECT tricity. Pretty relevant now days with all the Wildfires Burning, some caused by downed poles. Dangerous Profession.

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

[marrky-89472 · 2/10 · 4 June 2016]

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.

Beau could have lived

[christinkrehbiel · 6/10 · 8 June 2018]

When Beau jumped on the bar to close the circuit he would have been touching nothing else and would not have been electrocuted, like a bird on a power line wouldn't be. He could have pushed himself off the bar and landed where he had been standing.

Over the top clichés and the entire cast is depressed about something or other

[Ed-Shullivan · 4/10 · 10 March 2017]

I was so looking forward to this film which is classified as an action/drama film. Mrs. Shullivan and I both worked for the local utility company and we are aware that the risk these lineman (line persons) take working on high voltage systems is real, is extremely dangerous and has led to some unfortunate and untimely deaths.

Life on the Line seems to portray all the lineman in this film as having personal demons, a group of hard drinking brothers, who appear to be standing in line waiting to get themselves killed in the line of duty. Even worse than the depressed characters of the main stars of this feature film were all the clichés that were used so often that I started gagging on my popcorn.

The film did hold my attention for the first half, but as more and more clichés were expressed by the so-called heroes, and the irritating caption at the bottom of the screen kept appearing with the countdown days to the day of the big storm, you had to know someone was going to lose their "Life on the Line" eh?

So the storm comes in more than just by the usual way (no spoiler here) and we see how when a life is lost a new generation of potential line persons are born. I don't think we have to worry about seeing a sequel to this film. Lights out....nothing more to report.

So many haters out there! It's a MOVIE!

[kelly-mailly · 8/10 · 3 May 2023]

It's a movie. If you view it as such, it's a good story. And if you're a lineman yourself and are mad, then go create a documentary if you're mad about the details. Don't forget to weave in the politics. I thought Travolta was good; I grew up in the age of Michael if that gives you context. He's aged well and is still a great actor.

I have no idea what a lineman is, but regardless I think movies like this help show us there are worlds that are different than our privilege allows us to experience. You have electricity and many people don't. Even if it isn't a perfect representation, there are still people who work hard to get you your electricity.

an Armageddon like movie that is entertaining but a little too cheesy and over the top to have the effect it really wanted.

[cosmo_tiger · 6/10 · 10 January 2017]

"Gentlemen its gonna get bad, but that's what were trained for." After an unthinkable tragedy Beau (Travolta), a lineman, begins to raise young Bailey (Bosworth) as his own. Now, years later she is grown up and beginning to start her own life. Beau thinks this is the worst thing ever, until the night of the storm that changes everything. This is a movie that tries as hard as it can to be important. It hits you with an emotional punch right in the beginning and does its best to help you relate to the men in this field. There are some very good aspects in this movie but it ended up become a cheesy version of Armageddon. Some movies try way to hard to prove a point and make a statement. This is one of those. The movie is good and worth seeing but a little too over the top and unbelievable to be taken all that serious. That said, this is am exciting movie that is very entertaining. Overall, an Armageddon like movie that is entertaining but a little too cheesy and over the top to have the effect it really wanted. I give this a B.

I watched it, then googled to see how inaccurate it was ...

[pitboy-45219 · 4/10 · 10 February 2017]

Besides the fact that as a movie, it was barely okish, I didn't realize that was Sharon Stone so I'll either give her kudos on the makeup job, or not blame her for hiding behind it, and knocking off the paycheck work. I don't even blame Travolta, he actually gave a sincere performance, given what he had to work with. The real issue here was in the writing, direction and edit. I just didn't buy any of it. The bar swilling, fist fighting, ol' boys approach to the film was overdone to the max. I don't need to be told a real linemen life (or any profession) is not actually like that, so why lie to me?

What I did appreciate was the lineman commenting here on the inaccuracies of the line work being done in the film. Like most, I know nothing about the details of their work, but I knew ... I just knew as I was watching, that Hollywood had it wrong here, and made it as sensational as they possibly could. A whole cities power supply resting on one switch? Do ya think I'm an idiot? And apparently it wouldn't have worked like that anyway says a lineman.

When will movie makers realize that its not wrong to actually portray someones job correctly, make sure they get the details right and let go of the need to push beyond reality to the point of reckless? The problem is I don't lose trust in the actors, I lose trust in the system that simply cant understand what I really want in a movie.