Life on the Line

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.