Road House (2024)

Jake Gyllenhaal’s sardonic sense of humour and Doug Liman’s kinetically directed action sequences make this “reimagining” of the cult 1989 action film a tonne of cheesy, tongue-in-cheek, bone-crunching fun.

Premise:  Down on his luck former UFC fighter Elwood Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) is hired by Frankie (Jessica Williams), the owner of a roadhouse in the Florida Keys, to help her see off a biker gang that’s been terrorising the establishment.  But after he takes the job, Dalton realises that there’s more going on in the small community than he realised.

Review:

First things first, I’ll be upfront about the fact that I have no particular love for the 1989 original Road House starring Patrick Swayze.  For whatever reason, by the time I got around to watching the original movie, it was already quite dated and (IMHO) quite cheesy in an overly earnest way.  My point is, while I don’t mind 1989’s Road House, I certainly don’t place it on a pedestal either – so I was perfectly happy to judge this new version on its own merits (whereas I know some people who loved the original version haven’t enjoyed this new version nearly as much as I did).

I call this new version a “reimagining”, because as much as a normally hate that term, it feels right for this movie – you can’t really call it a remake or a reboot because it changes not only quite a lot about the plot and the characters from the original movie, but also the tone of the film as well.  While the original movie was played with a completely straight face, this 2024 Road House knows just how preposterous it is, and has its tongue firmly in its cheek at all times.

“…key to the film’s fun-factor is Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance…”

That’s not to say that this is an “action comedy” per se – it’s still very much an action/drama, but with a mischievous streak of black humour that runs through everything, from someone commenting on the fact that the roadhouse (one-word) is incorrectly called the “Road House” (two-words, just like the films), to Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dalton politely asking thugs if they know the way to the nearest hospital before he beats the living crap out of them.  Even the plot itself seems to enjoy revelling in the tropes and cliches that other films of this nature would play for serious dramatic effect.

Key to the fun-factor in 2024’s Road House is Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as Dalton – he exudes charisma in all of his scenes, and his sardonic sense of humour sets the tone for the entire film.  He’s a character that you enjoy being in the presence of, even between the action set-pieces – but when they do come, director Doug Liman brings the same kinetic energy to the fights scenes that he brought to The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow, but this time with an added wry sense of humour to compliment the bone-crunching violence.

“…Conor McGregor’s eccentric performance fits perfectively with the heightened & knowing tone of the film…”

This is very much Jake Gyllenhaal’s film (and he got so ripped for this role, you can forgive the fact that he rarely seems to not have his abs on show!) – so Jessica Williams doesn’t get a great deal to work with as the owner of the roadhouse, Daniela Melchior does what she can to add some depth to the love interest role, and Billy Magnussen seems to be having fun as the villain of the piece.  But the only other character that really makes an impression is Knox, the psychotic thug brought in to deal with Dalton, played by (controversial) former UFC champion Conor McGregor.  This film marks Conor McGregor’s acting debut, and although he is very much an over-the-top panto villain, his eccentric performance fits perfectively with the heightened and knowing tone of the film.

This 2024 Road House doesn’t hide the fact that it’s playing with the ‘mysterious drifter comes to town and stands up for the locals’ trope that was common in so many classic westerns – in fact, one of the characters repeatedly points out to Dalton that he’s the living embodiment of that cliché – but none of that makes the film any less enjoyable or any less fun.  This isn’t a film that’s relying on originality to keep you entertained – it’s the way it does what it does that works so well.

“…more subversive, knowing & humorous than I expected…”

No doubt some will look down their noses at Road House as being too corny, while die-hard fans of the original version may be too set in their ways to fall for this interpretation – but to me, this was the definition of a great Friday night movie.  It’s not trying to be big or clever, but it does elevate the material to provide something more subversive, knowing and humorous than I expected – and when it comes time to ‘take things outside’, the film’s action sequences definitely pack a punch.