The original Road House from 1989 has a weird legacy. Directed by Rowdy Herrington, it is pure ‘80s cheese, set in the world of nightclubs and bouncers, in which Patrick Swayze plays Dalton, hired as a cooler in a roadside bar, only to become the protector of a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman. Like a strange take on the modern western, it is very much a product of its time, from its star power, to the mullets and Jeff Healey performing numerous songs on stage. Once described by Roger Ebert as existing “right on the edge between the ‘good-bad movie’ and the merely bad”, Road House has been referenced and joked about in various comedic media, which is why it has gained a cult following.
While there was the direct-to-video sequel in 2006, the prospect of remaking Road House seems sacrilege, whether you’re a diehard fan or a casual viewer that will simply laugh at it. Once played by Swayze, Jake Gyllenhaal steps into the role of Dalton. A troubled former UFC middleweight fighter, Elwood Dalton makes a living, scamming fighters on the underground circuit, which features a bizarre cameo from Post Malone. When he is recruited by Frankie (Jessica Williams), to be a bouncer for her unruly roadhouse in the Florida Keys community of Glass Keys, Dalton discovers that the place is the target for a local mafia boss (Billy Magnussen).
From a screenplay by Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry, this remake sticks close to the broad strokes of the original from the preposterous premise to the bare-knuckle brawling, which is the solution to all of life’s problems. Stepping away from the mullets of the ‘80s, director Doug Liman still embraces a bit of cheesiness from that decade, including a fun montage featuring Dalton and the other bouncers stopping bar fights whilst the various music acts are playing on stage behind chicken wire. Why am I getting Blue Brothers vibes suddenly?
Considering that the original movie is known for its impressive stunt work that featured a lot of roundhouse kicking – inspiring a running joke in Family Guy – the remake loses some points when it comes to the fight choreography. While the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor McGregor show off their muscular physique and you can see their commitment to the brawling nature, the way a lot of these fights are shot have a whiff of artificiality, from the obvious hidden cuts to the ropey CGI effects whenever the action goes beyond the bar fights.
Like its source material, whenever Road House tries to deepen the drama, whether it is certain backstories or the corruption that is affecting the archipelago, it starts to be as shallow as the romance between Dalton and Daniela Melchior’s Ellie. Speaking of Dalton, Gyllenhaal who is one of the great physical actors working today, makes the role his own as he balances his quirky politeness and slowly starts to get unhinged in a way that Gyllenhaal can only capture. Competing with his co-star, when it comes to who can compete physically and psychologically, McGregor in his debut film role is enjoyably anarchic as the Joker-like Knox, who embraces the campy exploitation that this movie should be about.
Road House is available on Prime Video
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