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Recent releases:
- Jericho Ridge
- Civil War
- Mothers' Instinct
- Sweet East, The
- Ghost Busters: Frozen Empire
- Immaculate
- Roaring Twenties, The (reissue)
- Soul
- Dune: part two
- American Star
- Dune: Part 1 (reissue)
- Jerry & Marge Go Large
- Argylle
- Forever Young
- Jackdaw
- All of Us Strangers
- Holdovers, The
- Mean Girls
- Poor Things
- One Life
Life on the Line
Stars: John Travolta, Kate Bosworth, Gil Bellows, Devon Sawa, Sharon Stone, Ryan Robbins, Julie Benz
Director: David Hackl
Part action thriller and part family drama, Life on the Line stars a heavily bearded Travolta as a lineman who works at dangerous heights to keep the county's electricity supply going. This had the potential to be a big movie, but unfortunately the director all too frequently lives up to (most of) his name: his handling of the film is static and plodding and fails to make the most of a potentially deadly storm at the film's finale.
Only in its documentary-style moments illustrating the lineman's skill and the hazards he faces does the film occasionally spring to life.
And it unforgivably wastes the once star-billed Stone in a small supporting role. At least they resisted the temptation to use Glen Campbell's classic Wichita Lineman on the soundtrack. Or perhaps they just couldn't get the rights...
David Quinlan
USA 2015. UK Distributor: GEM Entertainment. Colour by FotoKem.
97 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.
Review date: 03 Mar 2017