PLOT: An ex-UFC legend, Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal), reeling from a tragedy in the ring, takes a job as a bouncer at a troubled bar in the Florida Keys. While there, he gets caught up in a real estate scheme run by a crime lord’s well-connected son.
REVIEW: So here’s the thing. I was super against the idea of remaking Road House. The original film with Patrick Swayze is, in my opinion, one of the greatest B-movies of all time and something of a staple as far as action movies go. It recently made my list of the top 25 action movies ever. Yet, the buzz surrounding Doug Liman’s remake was good, and the trailer sold me on the film 100%. Perhaps too much because I did precisely the wrong thing. I was so psyched by the trailer that I ended up drinking beer and throwing on the original Road House with friends, and I had a whale of a time. As such, the movie was pretty fresh in my mind when I finally sat to watch the remake, which – while still an entertaining actioner – doesn’t compete.
So yeah, let’s get that out of the way first – the 2024 version of Road House is nowhere near as good as the original. Some critics may say it is, but no – it isn’t. There was also a call to have this movie released in theaters. Having seen it for myself, I can say that it’s definitely a streaming movie with budget CGI and some unconvincing VFX, all of which will look fine at home.
So that’s everything it isn’t. But how is Road House as a streaming B-movie? It’s pretty entertaining, even if it’s not the absolute rollercoaster ride the trailer promised. It has some good fight sequences, but it’s short of action until about halfway in. When it sticks to punch-ups, the movie is great, but when it spreads out into boat chases and explosions, the streaming nature of the film becomes more apparent. You start to wonder why they didn’t study the original movie closer, which proved car chases, explosions, and gun battles are ultimately unnecessary in a film about people getting kicked in the head.
But, I’ll give Road House this – it has an ace lead performance by Jake Gyllenhaal, a memorable villain in Conor McGregor, and one hell of a final battle royale between them. I appreciated that Gyllenhaal never tries to channel the late great Patrick Swayze and does his own thing. In the original, Swayze’s Dalton was half Zen master, half action hero. Here, Gyllenhaal plays Dalton as more of a regular guy, a down-and-out UFC fighter who’s been disgraced and makes a living hustling underground fights. In this world, he’s famous, as everyone saw his most infamous match online, and so many of his opponents are (rightly) scared of him, including Post Malone in a cameo.
Gyllenhaal plays Dalton as low-key and friendly, w with one character comparing him to Mr. Rogers. He makes fast friends with the people living in Glass Key (an excellent Dashiell Hammett reference), the town he goes to bounce in. Some of the relationships, such as one he has with a little girl who runs a bookshop, come off as less cheesy than they would otherwise, thanks to Gyllenhaal’s charm.
Physically, he looks like a legit UFC fighter, sporting an impossibly lean and chiselled physique. He aces the hand-to-hand scraps. Dalton is invincible for 90% of the film, but then McGregor comes in, chewing scenery like there’s no tomorrow, as a surprisingly likeable but insane enforcer. Unlike other action heroes, Gyllenhaal has no problem with getting his ass beat, and even if the film is ultimately a B or B-minus as an action flick, he’s A-plus as an action star.
Otherwise, the film skews relatively close to the original Road House, with his love interest being a surgeon (The Suicide Squad’s Daniela Melchior) and him having a likeable bar owner to report to (although Jessica Williams is quite a bit sexier than Kevin Tighe in my opinion). The main difference is that Sam Elliot’s character has been eliminated, which is just as well as who could compare? Billy Magnussen is a relatively flat, one-dimensional baddie (he’s not Ben Gazzara), but he’s little more than a MacGuffin, with him serving the primary purpose: bringing in Conor McGregor’s Knox. Even if McGregor’s acting is dicey, he makes up for it in presence and physicality. The fight between him and Gyllenhaal is legitimately a great action scene.
So, while the Road House remake was much more of a mixed bag than I thought it would be, I still had a good enough time with it. People will inhale this thing when it hits streaming, and I’m glad, as B-level action movies could be a nice niche for a service like Prime Video, and I hope they make more of them. And, again, Gyllenhaal could be a fantastic future action hero if that’s the road he goes down. Too often, non-superhero, straightforward action flicks are frowned upon. The genre needs new blood, and he could be it.