Road House (2024) - Review

Rating: 3 out of 5

AS A self confessed fan of the Patrick Swayze original, I had reservations about the necessity for a remake - albeit one that stared one of my favourite actors (Jake Gyllenhaal).

Now that it’s finally been unveiled - exclusively on streaming - the result is equal parts fun but frustrating.

Gyllenhaal delivers as Dalton, impressively buff and suitably enigmatic (embodying flawed character traits with an easygoing charm that’s worth rooting for), while many of the fight scenes feel raw, authentic and suitably gritty.

But the screenplay somehow - and somewhat incredibly - even more lightweight than the original (with little or no room for character development beyond Gyllenhaal’s lead), and Doug Liman’s direction often too boisterous for its own good.

As if he’s ripping off the worst elements of a Michael Bay film, Liman displays an inability to hold the camera still at key moments, sometimes upsetting the natural rhythm of a fight scene to offer something flashy, or interrupting anything with any depth by jump-cutting to something brash or music driven. In doing so, he deprives the film of any real emotional investment.

The belated introduction of Connor McGregor’s main fighting nemesis also over-injects the film with a cartoon element obviously designed to paper over McGregor’s acting shortcomings. He is a pantomime villain, so OTT that most scenes he’s in border on the ridiculous (he’s almost like a real-life Tasmanian Devil).

That said, Liman does respect the B-movie meets classic Western parameters of the film as a whole and doesn’t aim too high, other than to make something that’s brashly entertaining. As such, he succeeds in delivering the type of film that exists to keep your brain in neutral.

With Gyllenhaal delivering on his part of the bargain, the film ends up looking and feeling a lot more appealing than it really had any right to be.