The entire internet was so excited for this movie at one point, me included. A remake of the Patrick Swayze flick, with Jake Gyllenhaal in the central role? Hell yes. And then I watched Road House, and all my excitement quickly evaporated. Firstly, the film doesn’t know what it wants to be. Action film, sports movie or comedy? It decides to be everything and nothing, all at the same time.
The movie follows Elwood Dalton (Gyllenhaal), a UFC fighter running from the demons of his past. He doesn’t have a home, he lives in his car, and he goes to local fights to show his face and get paid for nothing. After one of these fights, he gets approached by Frankie, owner of the Road House, who needs him to be her new bouncer to keep out the riff raff. Dalton’s not eager initially, but after hitting a low point, he decides that a fresh start in Glass Key might just be the ticket.
Gyllenhaal is really the best thing about this film. It’s just so entertaining to watch him strut about as Dalton, spouting witty comebacks and one-liners, as well as showcase the striking physicality of the character. The problem is really in the characters that surround Dalton in this film. They’re barely characterised, and therefore don’t bring much to the spaces of the film. Dalton befriends Charlie, a young girl who works at a bookstore with her father, though befriend is a strong word since all their interactions are painful to watch unfold.
The same goes for his romantic relationship with Ellie (Daniela Melchior). When they first meet, she’s very antagonistic towards him. The second time she sees him, there’s a complete 180, and we don’t even know why. It’s clear that the movie has chosen her to be his love interest in the way their first meeting is set up, but there’s no compelling reason as to why they even get involved with each other in the first place. The only character who has chemistry with Dalton is bartender Laura (B.K. Cannon), which is probably not intentional since she’s just meant to be one of the minor characters who’s working at the Road House. Cannon’s great though, and so memorable, almost to the point where I wished she had more space in the film.
I think most of us would have tuned in for the fight scenes, and while the POV shots are a nice touch, most of the fight sequences feel too clean and stylized. It’s not quite what I expected from random bar fights. After a while, watching men just punch each other ad nauseam isn’t enough to keep viewers interest. Fights need to have tension and excitement, and this tension is present in the earlier fight scenes, but tapers out the longer the movie goes on. Towards the end, I didn’t even care if Dalton won against the bad guys or not.
Some might be delighted at Conor McGregor making an appearance in this movie as Knox, unfortunately, the man cannot act, so his scenes with Gyllenhaal just aren’t intimidating at all. There’s no variation to his line delivery, and the poor acting just makes his entire character feel unbelievable and camp in a way that’s annoying more than entertaining.
So yeah, watch this if you’re a fan of Gyllenhaal, otherwise search out something else.
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