[Film Review] Road House (1989) and (2024)
It is original versus remake time! Rowdy Herrington’s ROAD HOUSE is a Patrick Swayze vehicle hot on the heels of his runaway popularity generated from Emile Ardolino’s DIRTY DANCING (1987). Underperformed in the box office front and panned by critics, the film was disgraced by 4 Razzie nominations: Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Screenplay and Worst Supporting Actor (for Gazzara).
However, in process of time, the film reaps a cult following largely due to its modern-day Western analogue and hyper-masculine camp (rowdy, full-out bar brawls, a topless, tabletop dance exploitation, and a few fiery explosions, that should more than suffice for the targeted audience), not to mention it has a prime-time Swayze flexing his muscles with gentlemanlike tenderness (a necessarily steamy roll in the hay to allure members of the fairer sex) and lethal aggression in equal measure (if you can ignore his dated mullet coiffure, that is).
Swayze plays James Dalton, a professional bouncer haunted by a violent past crime, who is recruited to superintend the security of a roadside bar named“The Double Deuce”in Missouri, where he constantly clashes with the local crime lord Brad Wesley (Gazzara), who has been terrorizing the town to line his own pockets. The tension isn’t alleviated by the fact that Dalton is also attracted to Dr. Elizabeth Clay (a tonic and lusciously tanned Lynch), whom Wesley has been carrying torch for. Things will soon get personal, jolted by a poignant loss, Dalton must overcome his own inner demon while weeding out grasping vermin like Wesley and his henchmen, almost singlehandedly, and eventually brings harmony back to the townsfolk.
It is diverting to watch a cool-as-a-cucumber Dalton work in harness, instructing his philosophical work ethics to his subordinates, keeping an alert eye on the hustle and bustle, and teaching a lesson or two to those rough-housing, crapulous hayseeds wanting in discipline and basic manners. And the house band on the premises, headed by singer and guitarist Cody (Healy, the heart and soul of the hit-making Canadian trio“the Jeff Healy Band”, is blind, but look how fantastic he thrums the electronic guitar on his lap!), contributes a rowdy yet spirited miscellany of live performances that aren’t merely honky-tonk.
Sam Elliott also creates one of his signature screen characters as Dolton’s mentor Wade Garrett, the coolth that brings a whiff of casual confidence to a fraught situation. With his charming demeanor, habitually canted head and the way he binds his long curly crowning glory before duking it out, Wade is far overqualified for what his role is conventionally designated. In comparison, Gazzara’s Wesley lacks both bone-chilling bite and personal tics to rise above his superficial villainies (among the 4 Golden Raspberry nominations, his is the most plausible).
Liman’s remake materializes 35 years later, transposing the location to the Florida Keys and making a meal of the cerulean ocean splendor (the actual shooting location is in the Dominican Republic), accessorized with a major explosion of a catamaran yacht and chilling out on a shallowly submerged islet. Also Dalton (Gyllenhaal) is upgraded to a disgraced former UFC middleweight fighter while the road house becomes the lone holdout against a land-grabbing crime boss Ben Brandt (Magnussen), with members of racial minority groups populating the majority of the supporting cast。 Portuguese actress Melchior steps into Lynch’s shoes as Dalton’s love interest, but is incapable of perking up the role’s vapidity. (Incidentally, fans of Post Malone will be disappointed because the importance and the screen time of his character is highly exaggerated).
As per one’s preconception, the remake is a revamp on steroids, borne out by Gyllenhaal’s jacked-up physique, whose career path takes an unexpected turn in recent years, as apparently he chooses to label himself as a veritable action star for the male-leaning demographic. Here, his trademark broad smile and sloe-eyed innocuousness is still present, but only as a persona to hide Dalton’s anger issue, whose eruption would turn him into a merciless killing machine, not so unlike his most formidable rival Knox (acting debut for real-life UFC champion and megastar McGregor), a sheer brute who has a proclivity for streaking.
Apart from ditching Wade’s character, the remake’s script is a pedestrian affair, the modern-day Western citation becomes a through-line between Dalton and Charlie (Lanier), a gutsy teenage girl he befriends with. The innovation of shooting the fighting scenes with state-of-the-state technology and stunt work turns out to be a double-edged sword, the sense of visceral impact and damage caused by each and every heavy strike is deadened by the ultra-rapid cutting and the action’s gamified aesthetics. The final throw-down between Dalton and Knox is obviously an arduous physical endeavor for both, but the effect doesn’t really packs a punch, cannot hold a candle to Teague (as Wesley’s most homicidal and kung-fu savvy heavy) and Swayze’s brutalizing slugfest in the original.
Taking up the gauntlet to challenge Swayze’s iconic role, Gyllenhaal, barring bulking up for both personal gain and career request, aims to channel the monstrosity that is latent in Dalton and under-tapped in Herrington’s film, which the film only manages to extract in a few glimpses. If anything, it is Magnussen who possesses more gusto and showcases more versatility. Whether his Brandit is slimy, supercilious, flustered or flat irate, this is a villain who has relatable characteristics that could hook audience, adding a grace note to another passable remake whose own existence is questionable in the first place.
referential entries: Kathryn Bigelow’s POINT BLANK (1991, 6.3/10); Doug Liman’s FAIR GAME (2010, 6.8/10), EDGE OF TOMORROW (2014, 7.3/10).
Title: Road House
Year: 1989
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: Action, Thriller
Director: Rowdy Herrington
Screenwriters: R. Lance Hill, Hilary Henkin
Music: Michael Kamen
Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Editors: John F. Link, Frank J. Urioste
Cast:
Patrick Swayze
Ben Gazzara
Sam Elliott
Kelly Lynch
Kevin Tighe
Marshall R. Teague
Red West
Julie Michaels
Sunshine Parker
Jeff Healey
John Doe
Kathleen Wilhoite
Travis McKenna
John William Young
Terry Funk
Anthony De Longis
Joe Unger
Keith David
Gary Hudson
Rating: 6.9/10
Title: Road House
Year: 2024
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: Action, Thriller
Director: Doug Liman
Screenwriters: Anthony Bagarozzi, Chuck Mondry
Based on the motion picture screenplay by R. Lance Hill and Hilary Henkin
Music: Christophe Beck
Cinematography: Henry Braham
Editor: Doc Crotzer
Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Daniela Melchior
Conor McGregor
Billy Magnussen
Jessica Williams
B.K. Cannon
Joaquim de Almeida
Hannah Love Lanier
Kevin Carroll
Luke Gage
Dominique Columbus
Arturo Castro
Darren Barnet
JD Pardo
Post Malone
Travis Van Winkle
Bob Menery
Catfish Jean
Craig Ng
Jay Hieron
Rating: 6.2/10
