Yes, I know, Hollywood does too many remakes. But the remakes that have the most potential are ones where the original film wasn’t perfect but was entertaining. That’s when the new film has the best chance to be at least as fun as the old one. And that’s the case with Prime Video‘s Road House. It features action that is violent but visceral, as well as a script that has the occasional cheeky touch to keep the audience watching.
For those who haven’t seen it, Road House was released in 1989 starring Patrick Swayze. It became a minor cult classic of the action genre. Swayze played Dalton, a bouncer hired to clean up a club called the Double Deuce in a small Kansas town. Well, technically he’s a cooler, the leader in charge of a group of bouncers. As he makes the club safer, he also helps free the town from the grip of a wealthy local businessman. Under the guise of a town improvement fund, the businessman has basically been running a protection racket and has the cops in his pocket. There are a lot of elements that make the film memorable despite its flaws.
This new version of Road House has a grasp on what was fun about the original and embraces it. The direction from Doug Liman is also visually thrilling at times. And Jake Gyllenhaal is a commanding lead, making the inadequacies of the writing much less obvious than they could’ve been.
“No one ever wins a fight.”
The premise of this new film is the same as the 1989 original but with small modern updates. Swayze’s Dalton was an excellent fighter with a PhD in philosophy. Gyllenhaal’s Dalton is an ex-UFC champion who killed a friend in the octagon when he lost control. Instead of Kansas, this new roadhouse (ironically named “Road House”) is in the Florida Keys. Dalton still has to save the place from a businessman, this time a greedy developer’s son, Ben Brandt (Billy Magnussen), who is trying to appease his imprisoned father by building a resort on the land.
The difference between the old and new films comes mostly in the tone underlying its presentation. Though the 1989 film gave female viewers plenty of time to gawk at Swayze’s body, it overwhelmingly catered toward the male gaze. And not just with female nudity. The violence and the machismo of the dialogue also clearly had the male audience in mind. This new film has more equality to offer in this area. Gyllenhaal’s love interest, Ellie (Daniela Melchior), is given more investment in the plot than Swayze’s was, and she is not an object for the camera. Gyllenhaal is the one who has honed his body, as well as Brandt’s main henchman, Knox, played by UFC fighter Conor McGregor.
As for the violence, standards have allowed for fights to get more graphic in the years since the original. This movie takes them to the limit. Especially when Gyllenhaal and McGregor face off against each other. It can be brutal. Director Liman devises interesting ways to film these sequences, too. As the characters beat each other to a pulp, he moves the camera in a way that keeps the eye engaged. He also uses a first-person POV camera angle for some shots. It’s quite a striking detail, like the punches are coming right at you.
“Patience and a keen interest in the result is all it takes.”
Strong direction isn’t the only worthwhile aspect of this new Road House. One reason the original has such campy appeal is that it treated bouncers like nationally famous legends. Almost like gunslingers in the Old West. And the plot was almost like a Western. The lone, brave fighter comes to town and saves it from the bad guy. Well, this film takes time to make winking references to this in the dialogue. Sure, there were probably ways to execute these callbacks more subtly but I like that they’re there.
Gyllenhaal and Swayze both have the physical presence to lead a film like this, but their interpretations of Dalton focus on different things. Swayze emphasized Dalton’s zen nature while Gyllenhaal projects a contained strength he hides behind humor. In fact, the comedy that works in this film is one of its assets. When some of Brandt’s thugs come to the bar the first time and Dalton injures them all, he then drives them to the hospital! The whole sequence is funnier than you might expect.
I would have enjoyed a stronger sense of place in the production design. The original film actually had a good handle on that, and the Florida Keys setting here could have inspired a bit more atmosphere. The locations are beautiful (the Dominican Republic stands in for the Keys) but making them more distinctive wouldn’t have hurt. What you expect from a film like this is exactly what you get, however. Road House is a remake that doesn’t try to be better than the original and that’s why it’s just as entertaining.
Road House is streaming on Prime Video.