''Life on the Line'' is a 2015 American
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...
disaster
A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
directed by
David Hackl
David Hackl is a Canadian film director and production designer.
Life and career
Hackl was the production designer and second unit director for ''Saw II'', ''Saw III'', and ''Saw IV''; as well as for ''Repo! The Genetic Opera''. He was in talks ...
and written by Primo Brown, Marvin Peart and Peter I. Horton. The film stars
John Travolta,
Kate Bosworth
Catherine Anne Bosworth (born January 2, 1983) is an American actress. Following minor roles in the films '' The Horse Whisperer'' (1998) and ''Remember the Titans'' (2000), she rose to prominence with her role as a young surfer in the box-offi ...
,
Devon Sawa
Devon Edward Sawa (born September 7, 1978) is a Canadian actor. Sawa began acting when he was a teenager and appeared in several films in the 1990s including '' Little Giants'', ''Casper'', '' Now and Then'', '' Wild America'', ''Idle Hands'', a ...
,
Gil Bellows
Gil Bellows (born June 28, 1967) is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for the roles of Tommy Williams in the 1994 movie '' The Shawshank Redemption'', Billy Thomas in the Fox television series '' Ally McBeal'' (1997â ...
,
Julie Benz
Julie Benz (born May 1, 1972) l is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Darla on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel'' (1997–2004), and as Rita Bennett on ''Dexter'' (2006–2010), for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award ...
,
Ryan Robbins
Ryan John Currier (born November 26, 1972), better known as Ryan Robbins, is a Canadian actor.
Early life
Robbins was born in Victoria, British Columbia.
Career
Robbins is known for his roles as Ladon Radim in ''Stargate Atlantis'', Henry F ...
and
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
. The film was released on November 18, 2016, by
Lionsgate Premiere. The film's story follows a crew of electrical
linemen
Lineman or linesman may refer to:
In personal roles:
*Lineworker, one who installs and maintains electrical power, telephone, or telegraph lines
*Lineman (gridiron football), a position in American football
*Head linesman, the American football of ...
who while working to maintain the power grid of their Texas town find themselves in the middle of a deadly storm and have to fight for their lives.
Plot
A man named Duncan gives an interview for a documentary. He is asked what it is like for him to be a lineman.
A lineman named Danny Ginner speaks with his daughter Bailey, who is frightened of the storm. Danny leaves and goes out to fix a downed power line with a crew during a rainstorm. When a truck arrives, Danny's brother Beau shows up. Beau climbs the line and fixes a shorted wire.
Danny notices that Beau missed a crucial spot. When Beau offers to go back up, Danny stops him and chooses to do it himself. As he is fixing the wire, the power line is struck by lightning, sending Danny plummeting to the ground. Danny is rushed to the hospital. Maggie, who is Danny's wife, rushes to the hospital. As she is distracted, her car is struck by a truck at an intersection, killing her. The next morning, Beau visits the house and comforts Bailey, his niece.
Fifteen years later. Beau and Bailey are living together. Bailey is a waitress at a local diner, while Beau is now the head lineman for the company. Before they head out, Beau and Bailey notice that new neighbors are moving in across the street, who are identified to be Carline and Eugene. Beau notices that Eugene also works for the power company. Beau goes to work and discovers that the other workers, including his friend known as Pok' Chop have thrown him a surprise birthday party.
Later that day, Beau finds that Duncan has started working for the same company. It is revealed that Duncan and Bailey used to date, but that something happened between them. Duncan is later shown living with his alcoholic mother. Duncan is trying to rekindle the relationship, much to the dismay of another one of Bailey's ex-boyfriends, Ron.
Eugene and Carline's relationship is strained when it is revealed that Carline had cheated on Eugene in the past and that is why he is suspicious whenever he sees Carline near a man or talking to another man.
After spending some time together, Carline notices that Bailey is pregnant. Bailey reveals that it is Duncan's baby. Beau wants Bailey to go to college, but Bailey is conflicted since she is pregnant.
Ron comes over to try to rekindle his relationship with Bailey but is unable to when Carline comes to help Bailey run Ron away. Later that night, Bailey looks out the window and notices a taxicab pull up to Carline & Eugene's house. She sees Carline coming out of the house and getting into the taxi, while Eugene is at work.
Eugene becomes increasingly suspicious of Carline, even to the point of going through her phone. When she catches him doing so, she takes her phone from him. He tells her that he has seen phone numbers on her phone that he didn't recognize. Carline tells him that she's been spending a lot of time with Bailey and her friends. Later on, as he is about to head to work, Eugene notices Bailey about to leave. He goes over to ask Bailey if she's been spending time with his wife. He mentions her friends and Bailey looks confused. Carline spots this and comes over to find out what Eugene is talking to Bailey about.
Eventually, Bailey & Duncan rekindle their relationship, much to Beau's dismay, since he wants Bailey to go to college and make a life for herself. One night at a local bar, Beau gets drunk and voices his opinion to Duncan, until Pok' Chop goes to intervene and tells Beau to go home.
When a storm arrives, a power line falls down and causes the pole to fall onto a set of train tracks. Shortly afterward, a train runs into the downed power line and derails. Beau and his team are called out to help.
On another side of town, Eugene calls Carline and tells her that all he wanted was to hear her voice.
Eugene climbs to the top of an electrical tower and contemplates committing suicide. He eventually decides against it and goes home.
As night falls, the storm steadily worsens. Ron gets out of his car and heads towards Eugene and Carline's place. He breaks into the house and tries to assault Carline, due to her comments towards him from earlier. Eugene arrives on scene and brandishes a gun.
Bailey sees Eugene going into the house with a gun, so she grabs her sweater and a flashlight and goes to help. Eugene sees Ron trying to rape Carline and breaks it up. Eugene aims his gun at Ron, but Bailey comes in and inadvertently shines the flashlight into Eugene's face. Ron uses the distraction to try to grab Eugene's gun, which leads to several shots being fired and Ron gets shot several times, killing him. Eugene and Carline reconcile, but Carline notices that Bailey has been shot in the stomach. They rush her to the hospital. Pok' Chop, there because a lineman was hurt from the storm, notices Bailey and calls Beau.
The storm knocks out the power to the rest of the city, and the doctor at the hospital cannot perform surgery. Pok' Chop calls Beau and tells him that they need the power back on or else Bailey will not make it. Beau tells Duncan what has happened to Bailey and they must restore power with no time to spare.
Beau and Duncan make it to the central power hub to see what happened. After exhausting all their options, Beau notices the problem: a fuse has popped preventing power from flowing from one part of the central hub to another part. Beau climbs part of the tower to restore power. Beau uses a
hot stick
In the electric power distribution industry, a hot stick is an insulated pole, usually made of fiberglass, used by electric utility workers when engaged on live-line working on energized high-voltage electric power lines, to protect them from ...
to push down on the fuse but is not successful. Beau apologizes to Duncan for mistreating him. Beau then jumps on to the fuse using his body weight to force the fuse to connect. This works and power is restored, but it causes Beau to get electrocuted, and he is thrown off the tower. At the hospital Bailey is able to be saved. The next morning, Duncan goes to the hospital and comforts Bailey.
During the interview, Duncan says that Beau was the definition of a lineman and that he hopes he can be even half the lineman that Beau was. Duncan gets a call on his radio, saying that he is needed because a storm is going to be coming in.
Two years later, Duncan, Bailey, their baby, Pok' Chop, and another lineman are seen approaching a monument. The monument, located in front of an electrical tower, is dedicated to all the local lineman that have lost their lives in the service of their job. Danny and Beau's names are seen among the names.
Cast
*
John Travolta as Beau Ginner
*
Kate Bosworth
Catherine Anne Bosworth (born January 2, 1983) is an American actress. Following minor roles in the films '' The Horse Whisperer'' (1998) and ''Remember the Titans'' (2000), she rose to prominence with her role as a young surfer in the box-offi ...
as Bailey Ginner
*
Devon Sawa
Devon Edward Sawa (born September 7, 1978) is a Canadian actor. Sawa began acting when he was a teenager and appeared in several films in the 1990s including '' Little Giants'', ''Casper'', '' Now and Then'', '' Wild America'', ''Idle Hands'', a ...
as Duncan
*
Gil Bellows
Gil Bellows (born June 28, 1967) is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for the roles of Tommy Williams in the 1994 movie '' The Shawshank Redemption'', Billy Thomas in the Fox television series '' Ally McBeal'' (1997â ...
as Pok' Chop
*
Julie Benz
Julie Benz (born May 1, 1972) l is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Darla on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel'' (1997–2004), and as Rita Bennett on ''Dexter'' (2006–2010), for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award ...
as Carline
*
Ryan Robbins
Ryan John Currier (born November 26, 1972), better known as Ryan Robbins, is a Canadian actor.
Early life
Robbins was born in Victoria, British Columbia.
Career
Robbins is known for his roles as Ladon Radim in ''Stargate Atlantis'', Henry F ...
as Eugene
*
Ty Olsson
Ty Olsson (born January 28, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Benny Lafitte in ''Supernatural'', real-life 9/11 victim Mark Bingham in the A&E television film ''Flight 93'', and Ord in the PBS Kids animated children's series ''D ...
as Danny Ginner
*
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
as Duncan's Mother
* Reese Alexander as Russell
*
Emilie Ullerup
Emilie Ullerup (born 27 October 1984) is a Danish actress. She is best known for playing Ashley Magnus on the television series ''Sanctuary'' and Bree O'Brien on the Hallmark Channel drama series ''Chesapeake Shores''.
Early life and education ...
as Becky
*
Stuart Stone as Hunter
* Matt Bellefleur as Ron
* Lydia Styslinger as Elly
* Christian Michael Cooper as Dillon
* Sidney Grigg as Young Bailey Ginner
* Jim Shield as Norm
*
Louis Ferreira
Louis Ferreira (born LuÃs Ferreira; born 20 February 1966) is a Canadian actor. Ferreira is known for his roles in ''Stargate Universe'' as Colonel Everett Young, serial killer Ray Prager in the first season of '' Durham County'', FBI Assistant ...
as Mr. Fontaine
* Angelina Lyubomirova as Alicia
* Dean Wray as George
* Edwin Perez as Jorge
* Elan Ross Gibson as Cook
* Derek Hamilton as Raymond
* Toby Levins as Phil
* Milo Shandel as Travis
* Bo Steele as Bar Musician
Release
The film premiered at the Napa Valley Film Festival on November 5, 2015.
The film was released on November 18, 2016, by
Lionsgate Premiere.
Reception
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has an approval rating of 0% based on reviews from 15 critics.
Sheri Linden of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' wrote: "Life may be on the line, but it's in short supply on the screen."
References
External links
*
{{David Hackl
2015 films
2010s disaster films
2015 thriller films
American disaster films
American thriller films
American survival films
2010s English-language films
Films directed by David Hackl
2015 drama films
2010s American films