As a past linesman (lineman) and instructor for trainee linesmen, I was intrigued to watch this movie and then appalled at the portrayal of these workers as hard ass, boozed-up bar brawlers. It can be a hazardous job, but I had a four year traineeship and the linesman I worked with were highly trained and not gung-ho rednecks as portrayed in this movie. How a guy that seemingly had just attempted suicide was allowed to just drive home from work afterwards - seriously!! The final scene was ridiculous on so many levels and anyone with even a basic knowledge of power systems would know that (i) you don't power up a city via an isolating switch; (ii) when JT jumped on the switch and pushed it closed would have created a short circuit that would have taken the line protection out, not restored power; and (iii) the guys in the control room cheering as if Bruce Willis had just saved the world in Armageddon - SAVE ME! I think this movie makes a mockery of highly trained safety professionals and does not celebrate their memory at all. Just goes to show how out of touch Hollywood actors are with the real world. But if Lineman in the United States are a bunch of redneck, boozy, bar-brawlers (and I seriously doubt that) then they would love it.
Review of Life on the Line
