If there’s one thing you can say about the new adaptation of Road House, it’s that it’s not short on action in the slightest. The film, which is a remake/reimagining of the original from 1989, takes extra care on that front. This can be accredited, in part, to some key folks returning to help create this all-new take on the classic Patrick Swayze flick, including producer Joel Silver and David Lee Henry. Henry returned to contribute to the story here after co-writing the original 1989 screenplay.
Road House also marks the first collaboration between Director Doug Liman and star Jake Gyllenhaal, who’ve been friends for over 20 years despite not working together professionally until now.
The film follows the story of Dalton (Gyllenhaal), an ex-UFC fighter who takes a job as a bouncer at “The Road House”, a troubled bar in fictional Glass Key, Florida. However, when there, he gains the ire of a local gang headed by criminal businessman Brandt, played by Billy Magnussen. Brandt wants to take the bar from Frankie (Jessica Williams), the last holdout in his plan for a mega-resort on the Key.
As Dalton gets closer with Ellie, a local nurse played by Portuguese actress Daniela Melchior, Brandt hires the ruthless Knox (Conor McGregor), to help rid the world of Dalton for good.
In addition to the original film, Road House largely seems to echo the story of Wyatt Earp in 1993’s Tombstone. In both, the main character is a notorious character who comes to a small town overrun with crime in hopes of work but not looking to get involved otherwise. Slowly, they become more involved though, until they are personally wronged and set out for revenge to permanently remove the crime from the city.
Gyllenhaal has heaped praise on the original film and the work of Swayze, whom he met and developed a friendship with while working on Donnie Darko. That admiration went a long way in helping Gyllenhaal develop his iteration of Dalton. You can tell in his performance how much care was taken in creating a unique-yet-faithful characterization. His version of Dalton is kind and polite, but also fierce, cocky and isn’t afraid to take care of business.
On a similar note, Conor McGregor had an incredible physical presence as Knox. Road House is McGregor’s first film role, but you’d never know based on his commanding stature. Producer Silver was largely responsible for getting McGregor on board, and while his line delivery left a lot to be desired, he naturally carries an immense amount of charisma and swagger that translates well here.
I was especially impressed by the fight scenes of Road House. Credit to both stunt coordinator Garrett Warren and fight coordinator Steve Brown. They were tasked with coming up with the unique fight visuals personified by extended sequences of highly choreographed, minimally cut moves that combined a classic UFC fighting style with incredible use of various props. It paid off well, and having a real UFC professional must have helped even more.
Aside from McGregor, Gyllenhaal and Melchior, no other cast member really does anything to stand out from the pack, however. Brandt is your run-of-the-mill crime boss, Frankie is a stereotypical bar owner, and everyone’s line deliveries just feel so flat. There’s not much to like on that front.
Road House drags on longer than it should, mostly due to longer than necessary takes of people doing nothing and a loss of focus in the middle of the movie before getting to the action-packed climax. I liked how quickly things moved into place after a brief Post Malone cameo in the first scene of the film, but then things slow way down any time a fight is not taking place.
It was also shocking how bad some of the CGI is, most notably a scene with Dalton and a truck on a bridge. It felt unfinished, and really could have just been removed altogether.
Final Thoughts
Road House really didn’t need a remake. Yes, this one is fun and full of exhilerating action, but in all reality, it has no reason to exist. For what it is, it’s fine, and the action is actually fairly impressive, but I really don’t know anyone who was calling for a modern-day remake of Road House in the first place.
