Life on the Line

John Travolta dodges downed power lines, but can't escape the clichs.

This is one of those "based on true events" movies that give you the distinct feeling that the true events deserved better.

A terrible movie about the workers who keep the electrical grid functioning.

This is the kind of salt-of-the-earth story that American filmmakers don't bother with much anymore - although frankly, there's not much here to convince anyone they should.

"Life on the Line" is supposed to be a moving story about men working electrical lines. Viewers, however, might require a high-voltage shock just to endure it.

The country songs that play over the credits offer more arresting detail about life on the line than the film manages in 100 minutes.

This is a low voltage drama where the facial hair prosthetics on John Travolta's face are far more entertaining than anything else in the movie.

The filmmakers behind this earnest, heartfelt drama truly want to honor the brave men who do this job, but the movie is packed with cliches and doesn't really grasp the details of hard work.

The bravery is undermined by the aggressively clichd screenplay and its focus on behind-the-scenes bickering.

A listless cast and a crushingly flat script fail to illuminate the lives of high-wire electrical workers in Life on the Line, which instead resorts to tired story beats and a false sense of self-righteousness.