On the Line

This starts off really well, a good premise and a slightly weird choice of opener. So far so good. Then it just descends into lazy writing. Bad performances from a good 50% of the ensemble and a totally lunatic ending which I won't spoil (if you get that far).

Mel Gibson has his detractors, and I get it, he's had a shocking personal life and expressed some vile views. It has to be said though, Mel is a good actor and knows his way around a scene. Without him I'm pretty certain I'd have made this a two star review. He brings a charisma and a suite of good choices for most of the movie, but by the third act - actually at the start of the second act even Mel can't keep up with hapless direction, the weird dialogue and the lack of any creative spark to cover up the deficiencies in the narrative. In many ways it passes the time, but can feel by the end a massive waste of time.

A little Die Hard, some The Game, and some good old Mel Gibson fun. While On the Line isn't the greatest movie, it held my interest with non-stop suspense. It is a real nail-biter until you realize what is really happening. Mel does a great job of playing Elvis the Talk-show host, and delivers a good believable portrayal of a man on the edge. The story gets moving very early on and builds to a crescendo that might be a bit too predictable. But still very entertaining. It's good to see Mel Gibson in a decent role again, and while this movie wasn't a Lethal Weapon or a Braveheart it was a pretty decent movie.

Very enjoyable entertainment, good twists and a fabulous Mel Gibson. No masterpiece but a nice flick!

Don't understand the bad reviews.

In my book it's all about managing expectations. If you choose a movie because the plot line interests you, you like the cast and you're in for a relaxing few hours in front of the telly then you're rarely disappointed.

Although if you are a movie Connaisseur or critic, you might want to apply different criteria to pick your movies to avoid disappointment.

In this case it did what it said on the tin and provided very enjoyable light entertainment, a good portion of suspense and a good ending.

I probably wasn't planning to watch 'On the Line', however the synopsis sounded like my kind of movie and I realised it had been a long time since I'd seen Mel Gibson in anything. So I gave it a shot. Man, the energy in this one was wild.

The film is clunky, I'll start by saying. Gibson's acting is a class above everyone else. He's so natural on screen that it sort of brings everyone else down a peg, simply by comparison.

The movie gets into the action fairly quickly. In fact that is something I have to give praise to, is that the overall pacing is very good. Once things kick into gear it doesn't really relent.

So I was having a good time with this movie, wondering where it was all headed, when suddenly I felt like I got hit by a sledge hammer. I haven't been that caught off guard by a plot twist in a long time. I thought surely not. But yes, sure enough they went with it.

I found it almost impossible to dislike this film. Is it perfectly made, no. Is it as polished as other films, perhaps not. But is it more entertaining and bold than your average film, absolutely. 7/10.

I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews of this, as my wife and I (and she is hard to please) both really enjoyed this film.

Yes, there are plenty of riffs from other films, as you'd expect with this kind of storyline, but that's not unusual in any film, and there are plenty of unexpected twists and turns to keep you interested and the film was ended very well.

Gibson fell out of favour with filmmakers for too long and is now rebuilding his career in later life, and while he is a little hammy at times in this, and certainly takes cues from his Ransom performance, he is still a fine actor and he steers this film along nicely. All of the supporting cast, many relatively unknown, give solid performances, nothing too outstanding, but nothing terrible either.

Overall then, an enjoyable thriller with some cool twists that might surprise you. A solid watch.