Road House (2024) Review
Doug Liman, is back with another action film, this time blasting straight into your living rooms on Amazon Prime.
It is a remake of the 1989 Swayze favorite Road House. However, many things are different, including not taking place in my home state.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Elwood Dalton, an ex-UFC fighter who is scraping by doing underground fights for a few hundred bucks.
A woman named Frankie comes to a fight night Dalton is at and asks him to come be a bouncer at her place in the Florida Keys, The Road House.
Upon Dalton’s arrival, things are worse than he was led to believe. A big wig is trying to either destroy The Road House or get Frankie to vacate so he can build a mega-resort.
Eventually, the main Bad guy (Billy Magnussen) brings in the ultimate heavy Knox (Conor McGregor).
Ok, so, how does this stack up against the Swayze classic? Well in a short review, not well. Are there fun moments to be had?
Yes. But they become few and far between as the move slogs along its 123-minute runtime.
Eventually, the movie becomes way too serious. I realize Swayze’s original is also serious, but there is fun throughout. Maybe it’s because the original is a little schlockier. Maybe the characters feel real.
It could be the message of the films. Patrick’s Dalton is a lover who fights when he has to. His whole thing is cooling things off until he is pushed to the brink.
Ben Gazzara’s Wesley isn’t able to be reasoned with. He has too much money and power. Therefore, Dalton must fight.
Liman’s remake gets rid of everything that we liked about Dalton. He was educated, he did Tai Chi, and he was charming. Gyllenhaal’s Dalton doesn’t care about anything. He is nearly suicidal when we first meet him.
He goes to amateur fights to earn money. The fighter, played by Post Malone, wisely says I’m not fighting Dalton. Then Dlaton wins all the money by default. It’s a far cry from the compassionate Swayze Dalton.
Spoilers! If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want spoilers, stop reading now.
We learn that Dalton accidentally killed his “friend” in the ring because he was “pushed too far” and when he gets angry, he cannot stop.
Sounds like someone should go to therapy. I know a guy named Dalton who works in Jasper Missouri to help control that anger.
He gets so angry he has to go after everyone and kill them. No remorse, no one cares, and somehow there is no recourse for his actions.
When Jake’s Dalton stops caring, we stop caring. It devolves into an MCU movie, a boss battle we know Dalton will win.
I will say Conor is better than expected in his scenery-chewing villainy. However, his character Knox is in a completely different film.
Presumably, one set in a Grand Theft Auto universe. How is he getting all the different cars? Why does he not park properly? He just crashes into objects to stop.
2.5/5 Stars
