Director: David Hackl
Writer: Primo Brown, Marvin Peart, Peter I Horton (Screenplay) Chad Dubea, Primo Brown, Marvin Peart (Story)
Starring: John Travolta, Kate Bosworth, Devon Sawa, Gil Bellows, Julie Benz, Ryan Robbins
Plot: A crew of men who do the high-wire work of fixing the electrical grid are hit by a sudden deadly storm.
Tagline – In the storm of the century, they risk everything to save lives.
Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Life on the Line starts as we meet a rookie line worker in Beau (Young Travolta) who witnesses his dangers of the job first hand, needing him to take his niece Bailey in. with Bailey (Bosworth) all grown up, Beau has become the most experienced line worker in the area, making sure his team never gets injured during the time on the job, training the new recruits to be the best.
The crew will face one of the most dangerous nights when a storm comes through town, forcing them to work in the dangerous conditions, with Beau needing to put aside his differences with Bailey’s boyfriend Duncan (Sawa) to make sure the local area keeps the power.
Thoughts on Life on the Line
Thoughts – Life on the Line takes us into the world of liners who help fix electrical lines in America, working through some of the worst weather around, with this event putting us into the middle of dangerous storm which shows how much the men must risk for their jobs. This side of the story is very interesting, putting a different career in the middle of the action sequences, showing the community teamwork the employees will show to work together. Where this story can fall short is by adding the drama about a parental figure, in this case an Uncle being overprotective of his niece from a boyfriend. Most of this side of the film does seem like filler and a copy from Armageddon. Having the big name of John Travolta puts the film in a position where it could be either two directions, sadly, it does fall into the lesser levels of his movies, but it isn’t a bad film, one that just falls into the average levels, with the strong supporting performances to put the film on an extremely watchable level. The message being sent about the career of these people is put front and center and it shows the dangers of this career.
Final Thoughts – Life on the Line is a great show of a lesser-known career, even if it can get held up by a side drama.