24
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 40Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayLos Angeles TimesNoel MurrayLife on the Line traffics in piled-on, predictable melodrama, with only intermittent sparks.
- 38RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyRogerEbert.comGlenn KennyThis is one of those “based on true events” movies that give you the distinct feeling that the true events deserved better.
- Director David Hackl’s 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.
- 30Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlThe country songs that play over the credits offer more arresting detail about life on the line than the film manages in 100 minutes.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenConcerned with both physical and psychological hazards of the job, Life on the Line manufactures a pileup of looming disasters to which director David Hackl lends no cadence.
- 30VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe LeydonThe narrative is so predictable that, when an outburst of trash-talking doesn’t escalate into a barroom brawl, it’s not just surprising, it’s pretty close to shocking.
- 25Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSlant MagazineKeith WatsonFor a film about such a singular profession, Life on the Line offers surprisingly little insight into linemen's day-to-day labor.
- 25The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe slumming stars actually make the situation worse for everyone; Life On The Line plays like an ego trip without any accompanying fun.
- 20The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerThe New York TimesNeil GenzlingerUnderappreciated occupations deserve better than the cliché-clogged, utterly predictable Life on the Line, a terrible movie about the workers who keep the electrical grid functioning.
- 20We Got This CoveredRobert Yaniz Jr.We Got This CoveredRobert Yaniz Jr.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.