The thing you have to understand about the original 1989 Road House is that Patrick Swayze ripped a guy’s throat out with his barehand. That’s what we call a “legacy.” It’s a legacy that means something. Any remake of a movie that entertaining and memorable is in for a real fight. Considering Amazon opted not to give Doug Liman’s new take starring Jake Gyllenhaal a theatrical release, it seemed likely the director lost his reboot battle. But fans of the franchise know looks can be deceiving, like how the calmest guy in a bar brawl can also be the toughest. Liman actually adds to Road House‘s legacy with this remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal. He delivered an incredibly fun movie that honors the original film while still standing on its own.
Diehard fans of the original Road House—a group I very much belong to—will recognize how many of the same exact plot points this new version also hits. The film features the terrorization of friendly locals by a corrupt businessman. It has way-too-talented bands that play behind a wire cage at a bar that simultaneously seems like both the most fun and most dangerous in the world. There’s also a beautiful doctor (Daniela Melchior) who falls for the hero. A lot of the character names are odes to the old Road House, because the new one is essentially the same story.
Of course, that’s only fitting. The 1989 film was itself another entry in the long line of “badass outsider comes to a corrupt town to clean things up” genre. This latest version exemplifies why that concept will always and forever be a bulletproof concept. At least it is when done well, and this is Road House is done incredibly well.
Liman’s film—which helps differentiate itself by moving the setting from dusty Missouri to the beautiful Key West coastline—features fantastic fight sequences. They feel fresh and original. Some seamlessly change perspective mid-punching so you go from watching it to feeling like you’re in it, but without losing your sense of place. The fisticuffs are also much more violent than the original. Getting punched in the face has rarely looked so brutal on screen.
The movie’s mostly diegetic soundtrack, provided by the bar’s bands, also perfectly enhances the manic energy that drives the action sequences. The movie literally rocks while literally kicking ass. And even with all the fighting, Road House is genuinely funny, moving, and cathartic at times This is, foremost, a very fun, very entertaining film like the original, just with a little less cheesiness. (Not that it lacks any cheese, thankfully. There’s an especially hysterical Chekhov’s Gun.) It’s that even among all the silliness it manages to deliver meaningful characterization and pathos. It is Road House combined with The Quiet Man. I know that sounds absurd—because it is—but it works.
The fun story and action wouldn’t matter if not for the film’s lead. Jake Gyllenhaal has nearly impossible shoes to fill as this generation’s Dalton. Patrick Swayze’s character is one of the coolest characters in movie history. Patrick Swayze himself is also one of the coolest actors in history. You can’t try to out-Swayze Swayze in arguably his most iconic role. And Liman and Gyllenhaal wisely didn’t try to do that. Instead they deliver a Dalton who shares the best traits with his predecessor while still being a very different character.
Gyllenhaal’s Elwood Dalton is a much sadder figure than Swayze’s character. He’s a former UFC star tortured by his past. It’s very obvious what he did even before the film confirms what happened. It’s a another plot point from the 1989 character’s history, but it matters far more this time around. What this Dalton did was far more awful than what Swayze’s character was haunted by. It’s why rather than an easy, suave John Dalton swagger, Gyllenhaal’s Elwood has the energy and presence of a big kind dog you don’t want to mess with. That’s the biggest, most important change in the film. It’s why this feels different even though its so familiar otherwise.
This new version of the character is still cool in his own way. He’s also likable and doesn’t actually like violence. Except, he’s clearly more unhinged than the original Dalton. Gyllenhaal isn’t a professional bouncer. He’s a world-class fighter who knows exactly what happens when he snaps. There’s something wrong with him and, unless he keeps that version of himself in check, bad things happen. It’s why he doesn’t actually want to hurt people, let alone kill them. He just wants to do his job and help out his nice new co-workers and desperate boss Frankie (played by the always great Jessica Williams).
Unfortunately for Dalton he’s come to a place that inevitability forces him to become the dangerous warrior he is. Local nepo baby Ben Brandt needs to buy the The Road House (actual bar name). It’s the last property standing in the way of his extravagant new resort. With Frankie refusing to sell the unstable Brandt, hired goons to force the issue by causing chaos at the bar. That’s why Frankie recruits Dalton, a man seemingly made of marble and blood, to keep her in business.
Every great hero needs a great villain, and that’s exactly what Billy Magnussen offers Gyllenhaal. He’s truly detestable as the scene-chewing Brandt. And because he’s playing a failson he also feels very different than Ben Gazzara’s Brad Wesley in the original movie, even though they fill the same role. It’s another example of how Liman and the script find the right balance between old and new.
Less great is actual UFC fighter Conor McGregor. He plays a dangerous sociopath Knox hired by Brandt’s imprisoned dad. McGregor certainly looks the part of someone capable of taking on Dalton. And he more than handles the action scenes. But he struggles anytime he needs to say more than five words in a row. Considering how well acted the movie is otherwise, his issues with dialogue stand out almost as much as his naked ass, which makes multiple prolonged appearances.
But outside of some act three issues when the movie gets dangerously close to cartoonish action, there’s very little to complain about. Even the UFC element that I was most skeptical about going in to the movie works. The result is a Road House movie in the best way. I couldn’t sleep when it ended I was so fired up. I wanted to rewatch it the second it was over. And I want to rewatch it a thousand times like I have the first film. (I’d also like to play the soundtrack on a loop while driving down the highway.)
Doug Lima’s Road House doesn’t merely justify its existence as a remake. Nor does it only justify why it absolutely deserved a theatrical release. (Not getting to see this in a theater with others is absurd.) It justifies casting a new Dalton every generation. I was worried about how this film would compare to the original. Now I want a new Road House every couple decades at least. That might not be as impressive as ripping a guy’s throat out with your barehand, but it’s still a legacy to be proud of.
Road House also stars Joaquim de Almeida, Lukas Gage, Arturo Castro, B.K. Cannon, Beau Knapp, Darren Barnet, and Dominique Columbus. It debuts on Prime Video on March 21, 2024.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist who never gets tired of watching cool dudes beat up bad dudes in movies. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
