Movie Review: ‘Road House’, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Conor McGregor

While the original ‘Road House’ is far from a classic film, it’s still hailed as a fun, ridiculous action movie, that was perfect for the 80’s. Decades later, Hollywood decided to give the film a much unneeded remake.

Just like the original, this version features a ridiculous, paper-thin plot, but the outcome is still a lot of fun.

Jake Gyllenhaal takes over the role that Patrick Swayze made famous as Dalton. That’s about where the similarities end with the remake and the original. Gyllenhaal plays a former UFC fighter who was disgraced after losing his temper during a fight and severely injuring his opponent. After an owner of the bar, played by Jessica Williams, aptly called The Road House, sees Dalton at a underground MMA fight, she approaches him to be the head bouncer at her bar, in an attempt to clean up the riffraff. Instead of a bar in the Midwest, the Road House is in Glass Key, in the Florida Keys.

Dalton is apparently well-known for his UFC career, enough to strike fear into a would-be opponent, played hilariously by Post Malone.

While at the bar, Dalton begins to clean things up, drawing the attention of town rich guy, Ben Brandt, played by Billy Magnussen. Brandt takes over the family business after his father in imprisoned. The son’s dream is to build a resort for his rich friends and that means the Road House has to go.

With Dalton constantly getting in Brandt’s way, the town villain is forced by his father to deal with Knox, an evil goon, played by Conor McGregor, one of the more enjoyable villain roles in recent action film history. The real life UFC-fighter dives into the role with both feet. It’s hard to say how much different the real life McGregor is compared to the loud and insane Knox.

So, much like the original film, Dalton must save the bar and town from a sinister presence. While that is the plot in a nutshell, the main question is; does the remake outdo the original? It’s a toss up if you ask me. Sam Elliot was a treat to have in the original and while Swayze was ridiculously cast as the lead in the original, he brought a bit of sex appeal to Dalton, keeping the ladies interested.

Gyllenhaal is ripped beyond belief in the remake, but doesn’t give off the same vibes as a Patrick Swayze. I’m not saying he’s bad. For my money, Gyllenhaal is one of the more versatile actors in Hollywood today. It almost seems like he’s in on the joke at times, spitting one-liners with a zen-like presence. It’s almost as if he realizes that remaking an already ridiculous 80s action film is nothing more than a joke. It is, but it’s also a lot of fun.

While I’m not a fan of his personally, due to all his personal issues stemming from his troubles in Ireland, McGregor truly steals the show. He spits one-liners left and right, while nailing the role of the unhinged Knox.

The love story from the first film definitely trumps the new film, as Swayze and Kelly Lynch had major chemistry, while Gyllenhaal and Daniela Melchior just can’t muster much of a spark, but really, that’s ok. We aren’t watching the film for a love story. We are watching to see the ridiculous and brutal fight scenes.

Director Doug Liman nails the fight scenes. They are very impressive to watch. At times, it’s like you are in the fight yourself, as Limon uses some first-person filming in some of the fight scenes.

Overall, if you go into Road House, which is on Amazon Prime starting March 21, expecting a great film, you’ll be sadly disappointed. But, if you go in looking for a fun, ridiculous action film, that is well put together, featuring a strong lead and raucously performed villain, Road House will not let you down.

Road House gets a B-.