One month shy of the 35th anniversary of the original film’s U.S. release, Road House sees Jake Gyllenhaal rather unenviably step into the shoes of the late, great Patrick Swayze for an update of the schlocky action B-movie. Packing quite the punch, the remake delivers in more ways than one; a rollicking good time retaining the fun and tone of its predecessor; a perfect Friday night post-pub platter of fist fighting, loud explosions and a pumped-up leading man more than capable of the task of following in the footsteps of one of the true greats.
Breaking the mould of the usual review structure seen on these pages and making things more personal to this critic, I will kick off this deconstruction by admitting that I was always going to be this film’s harshest critic. I am the biggest fan of Patrick Swayze, as regular visitors may know, particularly that golden four-year, four-movie period between 1987 and 1991. The films, in release order; Dirty Dancing (1987), Road House (1989), Ghost (1990), and Point Break (1991). All, bar Ghost, have now had remakes and the previous two were two of the worst reimaginings I have ever seen. Dirty Dancing was diluted into a live event for American television to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of the original movie and an update of Point Break was shat out onto the silver screen two years previous so the announcement of a remake of Road House was going to come with more trepidation. Over the years, whispers have been heard of various incarnations of a redo with Ronda Rousey set to take over the role of Dalton at one point. Then, in 2021 Jake Gyllenhaal and Doug Liman came aboard and the project gained huge traction at Amazon MGM Studios with the film officially greenlit in 2022. And now, here it is, rather controversially beaming straight into homes on the streaming platform, Prime Video.
The opening beats of the film are similar to the original and the filmmakers waste no time in getting Gyllenhaal’s Dalton offered the chance to sort out a dive bar in the tropical climbs of the Florida Keys after Jessica Williams Frankie runs into the former UFC fighter partaking in an underground fight in a dodgy bar in some other state. Within ten minutes, Dalton is down by the coast and shown the ropes in said bar (named The Road House here, though there is a gentle nod to the Double Deuce early on). The place is indeed an absolute bin with locals coming in every night tearing up the place seemingly to run the owners, and now Dalton, out of town. Dalton, though, is unperturbed and makes it is primary objective to sort the place out.
Fans of the original will notice familiar beats with the story. There’s a local business – in this case a book shop rather than a DIY store – whose owners Dalton takes an immediate shine to. There’s a local female doctor who Dalton meets early on, and there’s a dastardly villain in the form of Billy Magnusson’s Ben Brandt who has plans for the local bar and the town, continuing his dad’s now incarcerated father’s legacy of carnage of all who get in the way.
“The punches look like they connect, and the adventurous camerawork puts the viewer in the centre of the proceedings.“
Gyllenhaal’s Dalton is coming from a much darker place than Swayze’s, though. Despite this, the character offers up a lot of humour early on and the tone of the piece is absolutely bang on and not taking itself at all seriously throughout. With an inflated budget, the Liman version lacks the simplistic nature of the original – there’s more going on here than a man simply trying to sort out the clientele of a sawdust-sodden mucky bar – and there’s more CGI than you can shake a big wooden club at. Be it the action sequences at sea later on, or the down-and-dirty fist fights, Liman likes to use the latest technology to add an extra edge and look to the rough nature of the cult original. But that’s not entirely a bad thing. The punches look like they connect, and the adventurous camerawork puts the viewer in the centre of the proceedings.
Related: Road House with Patrick Swayze is getting a 4K re-release
There’s a Western theme running through the piece and is often mentioned in the dialogue. A lot actually reminded me of Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado which itself paid homage to various genre movies past when it was released back in the early ’90s. There’s a stranger in town, much like Antonio Banderas’ Mariachi in that film, a gang of henchmen ordered to run him out of town by a ruthless boss. The actor who played the big bad guy in that movie, Joaquim de Almeida, is also in this as the town’s sheriff, weirdly named Big Dick with no explanation given.
Then there’s Conor McGregor who makes his film debut in the role of Knox. He’s rather good and hugely watchable and very believable in all of his scenes – a for-hire badass with a psychotic streak, his only task is to run down Dalton and eliminate him.
And it is all tons of fun. It never takes itself too seriously and pays tribute to its predecessor without offering too much notalgic lip service. Gone is the gratuitous nudity and dodgy dialogue but Liman and his team nail the tone from the original and he certainly knows how to construct an action sequence or ten. The film has it in spades. Gyllenhaal, who worked with the late Patrick Swayze on Donnie Darko, jacked to the nines, has thrown himself into the role of the new Dalton and he’s having the time of his life throughout.
Whether the film will have the staying power of the cult original remains to be seen, and following all of the arguments that this should be seen on a big screen with an audience, I believe the film will find its feet on the small screen, available to the masses with more accessibility for those seeking a Friday night thrill. Much like its predecessor did on VHS all those years ago. Road House 2024 is a hoot.
Road House is now streaming on Prime Video.
Road House (2024)
Summary
Finally, a Patrick Swayze movie gets a remake worthy of the original. Liman and co. bring the mayhem and update it for the modern Fast and Furious-hungry audiences whilst also retaining the charm of its predecessor.
