‘Road House’ REVIEW: Doesn’t pull many punches
‘Road House’ REVIEW: Doesn’t pull many punches
Jake Gyllenhaal as Elwood Dalton in Road House. Photo from IMDB.
Directed by Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow), Road House is a remake of the 1989 film starring Patrick Swayze. This time around, Jake Gyllenhaal lends his acting chops as Elwood Dalton, a former UFC middleweight fighter who is offered a job as a bouncer by roadhouse owner Frankie, played by Jessica Williams (Booksmart), at the aptly named The Road House, plagued by unruly and rowdy behavior from drunk troublemakers.
Road House is an ode to the Hollywood action heroes of the 1980s having a seemingly indestructible character juiced up to a hundred at the center. Although, this isn’t the first time Gyllenhaal plays a character with a “fighting” background as2015’s Southpaw featured the actor as boxing champion Billy "The Great" Hope.
Taking cues from his past action films, Liman places Dalton in the heat of hard-hitting fight sequences that maximize Gyllenhaal’s physical transformation. With this in mind, there is a level of camp that can be considered, albeit being set in modern-day Florida Keys.
The action sequences themselves are the main highlight of Road House—we’re not expecting any Oscar-worthy performances here. We are shown glimpses of Dalton’s past in the UFC and his fall from grace through “nightmares” that he sometimes reminisces about. This may seem a bit lazy not to give him some more backstory even before his time in the octagon.
The film also suffers from extensive use of CGI, which is present in the opening fight sequence involving Austin Post, better known as American rapper-songwriter Post Malone. The camera flows energetically but not as smoothly as in films from the John Wick and the Mission: Impossible franchises.
Unfortunately, the usage of CGI weakens the level of realism, especially when the fight scenes are what those interested in the film are looking for. Dalton eventually runs in with a menacing motorcycle gang that terrorizes The Road House, who also works for Ben Brandt, a crime boss played by Billy Magnussen (Game Night). Some fight scenes with Dalton fighting off the baddies look enjoyable, but it’s hard not to compare them to the film’s fellow action-centric films that have knocked it out of the park.
Connor McGregor as Knox in Road House. Photo from IMDB.
On the other hand, Road House marks Irish mixed martial artist, “The Notorious” Conor McGregor’s feature film debut. He plays Knox, a mafia enforcer hired by Brandt’s imprisoned father to take down Dalton. McGregor’s over-the-top goofy acting is reminiscent of typical adversaries of action heroes from 80’s action films.
McGregor’s Knox is this no-good loudmouth who wrecks everything in his way, showing no mercy to whoever comes across. It’s all brawns and no brains type of fun throughout. His presence, ultimately, is more on the film’s comedic side, especially his “nudist” characterization, notable from when the character is first introduced. But it’s hard not to laugh at how fighting with blood and guts is much easier than acting in a film when you take a look at McGregor’s performance.
Ben Brandt (Billy Magnussen) and Dalton (Gyllenhaal) in Road House. Photo from IMDB.
For an action film, pacing issues still run wild. I’m not quite sure if it’s due to mandates from Amazon MGM Studios to keep the runtime at around 120 minutes, but there are scenes when we’re supposed to get behind with the characters and spend time with them a bit more. Key moments for character development fall flat because of uneven pacing.
However, the film is too ecstatic to show us the intense high-octane action set pieces that it forgets to let the characters grow. Thus, underdeveloped and one-dimensional characters are present such as Dalton’s love interest, Ellie, played by Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad), a nurse that Dalton first encounters when he sends the motorcycle gang he beat up to the nearby hospital. Granted, the film isn’t a romantic one, but it at least injects some human connection to it.
Liman can direct action, having Edge of Tomorrow and American Made, two Tom Cruise-led films in his résumé, both of which made the spectacle go hand-in-hand with characterization. That is why Road House feels like it should’ve been a hard-hitting, fun one-two punch under Liman’s direction and Gyllenhaal's charismatic Hollywood lead performance.
Road House is now streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
