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Once again, Dalton bends over backwards to be nice, until it’s time not to be nice. Once again, we’re reminded that no one wins in a fight, except the moviegoer, who gets to satisfy an inherent bloodlust by indulging in the second-hand thrills of an epic barroom brawl in Margaritaville. Liman’s Road House doesn’t quite reach the original movie's level of silliness. As the new Dalton, Gyllenhaal embodies the Swayze character’s faux-zen credo—“Be nice…until it’s time to not be nice”—without cribbing the line outright.
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At said hospital, Dalton meets a doctor named Ellie (Daniela Melchior), who challenges his alleged altruism—after all, he just clogged up her ER with a bunch of idiots who wouldn’t be there if he wasn’t such a tough guy in the first place. Obviously, Ellie will be the love interest for Dalton, but the film takes forever to get there and then backs away from their relationship almost immediately, turning elements of Ellie’s life into plot twists. It’s understandable that Dalton is hesitant to be happy again given the trauma that’s revealed about his past, but the dynamic between him and Ellie is one of several in this film that feels uncertain of its own purpose. In the ‘80s movies that “Road House” so desperately wants to be, there’d be actual passion between Dalton and Ellie instead of the tentative stuff that unfolds here more out of narrative necessity.
Who is in the cast of the new 'Road House'?
The 1989 movie where Patrick Swayze is a professional New York City bouncer imported to Missouri to work at the most raucous road house bar in the Show Me State? The kind of film in which the hero does tai chi, reads philosophy and coos Zen koans like “Pain don’t hurt,” and the bad guy utters bon mots like, “I used to fuck guys like you in prison? That first stand-off in the parking lot of the road house — named Road House, because what else would you call the joint? The bar’s staff ranges from a daffy bartender (B.K. Cannon) to an apprentice bouncer (Lukas Gage). A band is always playing some of sort of tropically flavored version of a blues, zydeco, gospel and/or rock staple behind a wire fence onstage. Dalton exudes the confidence of a person who understands how do maximum damage yet doesn’t jump into the fray until he has to, and even then, he escorts the gang into the parking lot.
'Road House' revisited: How Jake Gyllenhaal remake compares to Patrick Swayze cult classic - USA TODAY
'Road House' revisited: How Jake Gyllenhaal remake compares to Patrick Swayze cult classic.
Posted: Thu, 21 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
‘Road House’ Is One Bloody-Knuckled Joy Ride of a Remake
He’s polite to a fault, asking an assortment of creeps about their insurance coverage and proximity to the nearest hospital before beating the tar out of them—this is the source of much of the film’s droll (yes, droll) sense of humor. Billy Magnussen shines as the Gazzara-style villain, a flop-sweating, smarmy scion of a rich criminal who comes across like a long-lost Trump son. And then there’s Conor McGregor as Knox, a sociopath who launches like he was shot out of a cannon into the back half of the movie to finish the job with Dalton. Knox brings a spark to a movie that's getting dry, but McGregor’s performance is equally fascinating and baffling, delivered almost entirely through a massive grin like he’s doing a bit at a weigh-in before a match.
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Distraught, Dalton storms Wesley's estate, kills most of his henchmen and defeats, but relents from killing Wesley, refusing to give in to his anger. Elizabeth arrives and reconciles with Dalton, but Wesley recovers and attempts to shoot him before being shot dead by the locals, including Emmett and Red. Sometime later, the modernized and refined Double Deuce bustles with customers while Dalton and Elizabeth swim together in a lake. Wesley's nephew Pat, who is one of the fired employees, intimidates Tilghman into giving him his job back and attacks Dalton, who badly injures Pat and his accomplices. Receiving a knife wound in the process, Dalton visits a hospital and befriends Dr. Elizabeth Clay to whom Wesley is also attracted.
'Road House' review: This remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze film comes up short - NPR
'Road House' review: This remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze film comes up short.
Posted: Fri, 22 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
"Road House" exists right on the edge between the "good-bad movie" and the merely bad. I hesitate to recommend it, because so much depends on the ironic vision of the viewer. We are expected to believe that the sadist financed these hunting expeditions by shaking down the businesmen in a town that, on the visible evidence, contains a bar, a general store, a Ford dealership and two residences. "Road House" is the kind of movie that leaves reality so far behind that you have to accept it on its own terms. Road House can sometimes be so bad it's good, but more often, the uneven acting and ridiculous story are just disappointing.
At his most winning despite his character’s lethal nature, Gyllenhaal keeps up the one-liners and drollery. In lieu of Swayze’s Zenlike musings, he gives us dry inquiries about whether his challengers have medical insurance before pummeling and delivering them to a hospital. Troubled former UFC middleweight fighter Elwood Dalton makes a living scamming fighters on the underground circuit. He is approached by Frankie, the owner of an unruly roadhouse in the Florida Keys community of Glass Key, who offers him a job as head bouncer.
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Their version ends up being a sweet-natured, hilarious, and, of course, psychotically violent tribute to an unlikely masterpiece, and the creators’ affection for the original article shines through in every frame. Judging by the trailer, Gyllenhaal appears to have gotten pretty ripped for the film. Released on Jan. 25, the first trailer for “Road House” introduces viewers to Dalton, the former UFC fighter who has a tendency to get in brawls with multiple men.
Road House director
He struts and smiles like an aggro Popeye, and it feels like Liman told him to go over the top and so McGregor shot to the moon. There are times when his awkward line readings sound abjectly wrong, but maybe that’s intentional? It’s a constant push-and-pull of whether or not McGregor is purposefully awkward because Knox is a sociopath or if the fighter just doesn’t yet know how to put words together on screen. Fans of the original Road House know it starred the late Patrick Swayze as James Dalton, a bouncer hired at a roadside bar who was tasked with whipping the establishment into shape.
She’s been tipped off that the heavily tattooed slugger (yes, that is indeed Post Malone) wiping the floor with all comers may be the person she’s looking for. The person who attracts her attention, however, is the mystery man in the hoodie who’s just entered the makeshift ring. Meanwhile, the new Dalton—a disgraced UFC fighter rather than a world-famous bouncer—punches people in the head in undisguised closeups that, even once seen, can barely be believed. Computer trickery is involved for sure, but even so, if you’ve seen enough fights to know what CTE is, this is nightmarish stuff. Directed by (I kid you not) Rowdy Herrington and shepherded to life by super-producer Joel Silver, the original Road House has a bad reputation, one that it frankly deserves.
Of course, in a town with two residences, there may not be much pent-up housing demand. Road House has achieved cult status and was voted as the most watched film on cable in 2020.[5][6] A sequel titled Road House 2 was released in 2006 and a remake with the same name was released in 2024. As silly as it sounds, that push-and-pull between realism and cartoonish insanity that rests in McGregor’s performance is indicative of the quality of the movie overall. Gyllenhaal is making one movie—a story of an almost-Zen fighter pushed past his breaking point—while people like Magnusson and McGregor lean into the ridiculousness in the other half. Of course, there are a lot of ‘80s movies with grounded heroes and exaggerated villains, but this new “Road House” makes one appreciate the balance of those more.
The Double Deuce is the meanest, loudest and rowdiest bar south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Dalton has been hired to clean it up. He might not look like much, but the Ph.D.-educated bouncer proves he's more than capable – busting the heads of troublemakers and turning the roadhouse into a jumping hot spot. But Dalton's romance with the gorgeous Dr. Clay puts him on the bad side of cutthroat local big shot Brad Wesley. Terrell Smith has a diverse writing background having penned material for a wide array of clients including the federal government and Bravo television personalities.
Over half a dozen men will die for this.” When you’ve literally written the book on Road House, the 1989 Patrick Swayze cult classic action extravaganza, you get pretty good at summarizing its bizarre, beer-sluggin’ appeal, and that’s my best attempt. In this action landmark, Swayze plays Dalton, a “cooler” (head bouncer in charge) with a philosophy degree from NYU and a new gig at a Missouri hellhole. Ben Gazzara (of The Big Lebowski and the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof fame) plays the real-estate developer and organized crime boss out to stop him from cleaning up the joint. More damaging than underwritten character dynamics is the overall tone of “Road House,” which needed to be far more tactile to be effective.
After Dalton meets Ellie (Daniela Melchior), a reprise of Kelly Lynch’s doctor-slash-romantic-interest from the original, Road House slips into a groove. The electric blue of Florida’s keys provide a fresh, picturesque backdrop to a lot of B movie pulp, but the rest is properly familiar. Once again, a particularly loathsome rich prick, played by a deep-in-the-douchebag-pocket Billy Magnusson, is behind all of the troublemaking. Once again, an alpha brute in the form of Knox (Conor McGregor) is brought in to take the hero down.
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