Action tapers into silliness
Jake Gyllenhaal’s latest action outing, Road House, is a film meant to tickle your memories of watching old school action films; it wastes no time in conveying how serious it will take itself when minutes into the film, a character asks Gyllenhaal’s character if his situation seems more like a plot of a Western movie, “in which local townsfolk send for a hero to help clean up the rowdy saloon”.
And that is just the plot of Road House, the 1989 Patrick Swayzestarring B action film, which in its own way paid tribute to Western movies, and gained a cult following in the years to come. Gyllenhaal’s remake, directed by Doug Liman, retains all of the original film’s popular tropes but has tremendous fun, at least initially.
Everything is done to be a little extra. For instance, unlike Swayze’s James Dalton, Gyllenhaal’s Elwood Dalton is not a mystery man from New York City; this guy is an exUFC fighter from the Florida Keys who goes from cute to psycho in the blink of an eye. This problematic quality gets him a job in the small town of Glass Key to protect a roadhouse owned by Frankie ( Jessica Williams) named Road House. After scaring off Post Malone’s fiery boxer Carter and treating a stab wound like a toothpick prick, we see Dalton hit the brake on an impulsive suicide attempt on a railway track, and you know that a flashback on his trauma is waiting to come.
You feel a certain contrivance and urgency in how the other lead characters are introduced and fleshed out throughout the film. Billy Magnussen plays Ben Brandt, the rich brat who is the real reason behind all the troubles at Road House. Conor McGregor plays Knox, a maniac sent to sweeten things up for Ben, and the details of his entrance are so outlandish it is better left unrevealed.
Together, these three edgy men do mad, mad things, while a forced love track between Dalton and a doctor,
Ellie (Daniela Melchior), comes and goes. The cherry on the top is the inclusion of Charlie (Hannah Love Lanier), an innocent young girl minding her father’s bookstore. Everything is so tailormade and perfectly arranged that you can see the twists from a mile away.
To the film’s credit, there is ample comedic relief to break the bore, but when the plot tapers into utter silliness, you are left confused about its motivations. One begins to wonder if this is a film that banks solely on a purported shtick of nostalgia baiting the fans of the original. And while Elwood’s characterisation inadvertently makes you curious, Gyllenhaal comes across as a misfit, especially after Conor’s entry. For all the backstory and hype Elwood gets, you hardly feel the lunacy in the action sequences. In fact, Conan, as this seemingly cokedup menace, lights up the screen much more in his later scenes.
Road House is a popcorn film with some genuinely fun ideas, but it loses control of the narrative. Road House is currently streaming on
Prime Video