The road to Road House has been a bumpy one. Prime Video’s reimagining of the 1989 classic starring Patrick Swayze has been dotted with precarious mile markers signifying that critics and viewers might want to turn back before it’s too late.
First, there was the fact that the Road House reimagining has been languishing in production purgatory since it was first announced all the way back in 2013. Then, after finally securing a director and cast after Amazon promised to funnel a billion dollars into filmmaking with its purchase of MGM, the film hit another yield sign. Director Doug Liman wrote a scathing (and slightly pompous) editorial in Deadline complaining that Amazon did not honor its promise, and is hindering the film by sending it straight to Prime Video without any theatrical release. Finally, R. Lance Hill, who wrote the original film, filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement and the use of AI-generated actor voices to complete the film’s production during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.
With all of those obstacles scuttled about the road in front of Road House, it briefly looked as though audiences might never make it to the titular dive bar to see Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) clean up trouble with his mean right hook. But all the chaos surrounding its production only increased the audience’s excitement for the film’s world premiere, held March 8 at Austin’s SXSW Film Festival. The chatter among viewers was loud and excitable, and for good reason: Road House is a rollicking rage fest. Liman was correct to be so haughty—this bloody action flick really might be his best movie yet.
This take on Road House, which was co-written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry, sees Swayze’s martial artist with a heart of gold transformed into a juiced-up Gyllenhaal, whose Dalton is as stacked with muscles as he is pure, masculine rage. A former UFC champion, Dalton wears the disgrace that got him kicked out of professional fighting on his veiny sleeve. He’s at the point where it has begun to affect every element of his life when he meets Charlie (Jessica Williams), the owner of the titular roadhouse—literally called “the road house”—a dingy Florida Keys bar who recognizes Dalton and needs his help. Her joint is being overrun by rowdy local crime bosses, and she needs his help to turn things around.
What follows is a rip-roaring series of action as Dalton delves deeper into the low-stakes world of crime in Glass Key, Florida. Local big boss Ben Brandt (Billy Magnussen) wants to drive all business from the bar for his own devious plans, but Dalton’s appearance in town puts a major dent in his deal. Though he might look sweet and is friendly with the colorful locals, Dalton’s mean streak can emerge at any second. And it’s when Ben enlists the psychopathic leprechaun Knox (MMA fighter Conor McGregor) to assist him that Road House starts pulsating with sinewy adrenaline and never lets up.
As hard as Gyllenhaal worked to transform his physique, his drive to make this reimagining of Road House just as mesmerizing is evident. His Dalton is delightfully dangerous, a total charmer who fills Swayze’s big shoes with Gyllenhaal’s palpable charisma. It’s that demeanor that makes Dalton’s violent switches so enthralling to watch, as well as what makes him so easy to root for. Magnussen’s just as excellent of a foil, ratcheting up his typical smarm to hold the screen against Gyllenhaal’s electricity and McGregor’s balls-to-the-wall intensity.
The fight scenes, particularly the ones between all three of these actors, are charged with thrills. Liman’s kinetic camerawork more than holds up to the lofty promises that the director wrote about in his editorial. Rarely will an artist extoll their own skill and have the finished product genuinely hold up to their ostentation. But Liman’s work in Road House is downright captivating. The fights are oiled to perfection, cameras planted on dollies and tracking his characters’ every last move. The director is completely unafraid to experiment, using every last trick in his arsenal to make the crowd go absolutely wild.
Liman was onto something here: His Road House is an undeniable crowd pleaser. While it’s not necessarily a film that will look any less fantastic on a smaller screen—or, admittedly, one that looks so different from your average Prime Video (or any other streaming service) original—it’s one that deserves to be seen with an amped-up crowd. The gasps, cheers, and laughter that filled the theater at the film’s premiere are exactly the kind of reaction that Liman anticipated, and whose absence he lamented for others in his field. But even if Road House won’t screen anywhere other than your living room, the film’s nonstop, hysterical action will be enough to flip your tables and turn over your couches, on sheer popcorn movie spectacle alone.
