End of the Line (1987)

Director:

Jay Russell

Writers:

Jay Russell (writer)
John Wohlbruck (writer)

Release Date:

28 August 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

In the name of progress ... one magnificent step backward.

Plot:

When the closure of a railway is announced, employees commandeer a locomotive to get to corporate headquarters and confront the president.

Plot Keywords:

Railway | Train | Independent Film | Title Spoken By Character

Cast

Wilford Brimley	...	Will Haney
Levon Helm	...	Leo Pickett
Kevin Bacon	...	Everett
Bob Balaban	...	Warren Gerber, President of Southland
Barbara Barrie	...	Jean Haney
Judy Benson	...	Lucille
Michael Beach	...	Alvin
Carroll Dee Bland	...	Chester
Henderson Forsythe	...	Thomas Clinton, Southland Chairman of the Board
Dan DeMott	...	Travers, Security Guard at Southland Headquarters
Clint Howard	...	Les Sullivan
Trey Fancher	...	Tommy
Holly Hunter	...	Charlotte
Armando Garza	...	Gonzalez
Howard Morris	...	Drunk Hobo

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Benton, Arkansas, USA

Company:

Guadalupe-Hudson Productions

Goofs:

Plot holes: The idea that a major rail company would suddenly become an air freight company overnight is completely unthinkable. Railroads make most of their money hauling material in bulk, which includes vast amounts of coal. Not only would coal be impossible to ship by air, but so would other heavy bulk materials such as ore, steel, lumber, chemicals, grain, scrap metals, and even heavy machinery. Railroads excel at moving the most heaviest of goods efficiently and have yet to be proved obsolete by any other mode of transport in this field. The only competition air is to rail is that of passengers and time-sensitive mail and packages, but "Southland" is said to be doing only "air freight."

Quotes:

[in the locomotive's cab speeding towards a cop car]
Leo Pickett: Better slow up, they ain't moving.
Will Haney: Oh they'll move.
Leo Pickett: [looking around] There any selt belts in these things?

Soundtrack:

National Emblem March

Not nearly as goofy as I thought it would be

A friend at work loaned me this movie because he knows I'm nuts about trains. The plot synopsis, of driving a locomotive from Arkansas to Chicago, seemed too silly and unrealistic, to the point where I wasn't sure I would enjoy the movie. You know, like Karen Black flying a 747.

Fortunately there was a good explanation for how they managed to get the locomotive to Chicago, so I could relax and enjoy some really nice character studies and a fairly decent yarn. The life of folks who live in double-wides was told with a great deal of sympathy and understanding, without being pandering or condescending. Wilford Brimley as the life-long railroad man was particularly well done, as were Barbara Barrie as his wife and Kevin Bacon as a guy with more testosterone than brains.

But any movie that features both Clint Howard and Rita Jenrette is probably not Oscar material, and neither is a movie with a plot hole in the third act big enough to drive a locomotive through. Still, I'm glad I saw the movie. It doesn't bother me at all that I'll never get the time back that I spent watching it.