Title – Road House (2024) 

Director – Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) 

Cast – Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor, Billy Magnussen

Plot – Disgraced former fighter Elwood Dalton (Gyllenhaal) takes on a role at a divey establishment in the Florida Keys known simply as The Road House where rough clientele and shady locals force Dalton to act with a stern fist and zero tolerance for trouble. 

“This piano is out of tune”

Review by Eddie on 28/03/2024

The decision from director Doug Liman and star Jake Gyllenhaal to invest their time and effort into a reimagining on the 1989 Patrick Swayze cult classic Road House will forever remain a great mystery with this $85 million dollar Amazon streaming original a bizarre offering that appears to be floundering for an identity as it struggles to maintain any sense or purpose or accomplishments across its runtime. 

Outside of gifting Gyllenhaal a chance to hone his not insignificant physical prowess and the sight of seeing strutting UFC legend Conor McGregor’s bare Irish potatoes, Liman’s messily edited and video game feeling action thriller with a darkly comic undertone is a film that attempts to do a lot of things but does none of them particularly well even if an unhinged Gyllenhaal fully embracing his era of not caring is almost enough to make things interesting. 

Opening with the what on earth am I watching sight of a CGI’d Post Malone bare knuckle boxing followed by Gyllenhaal’s disgraced ex-UFC fighter coming face to face with a freight train, Road House has a constantly strange tone and feeling that it’s never able to shake, almost as if its caught between being a white knuckle thriller, a comedic action romp or a straight up parody of late 80’s and early 90’s genre flicks, making it easily apparent as too why Amazon decided early on that this feature was skipping out on a cinematic run. 

Making it’s way into the press over the early stages of 2024 with Liman publicly attacking Amazon about its strategy to skip a cinema run for his film and even proclaiming this is the best film he’s ever made, Road House has found itself with more limelight than it deserves and its impossible to think that Liman was serious about any of his statements, particularly when you consider some of his work includes classics such as Edge of Tomorrow, The Bourne Identity and the criminally underrated American Made. 

The other glaring element of Road House that stands out above everything is the central turn from Gyllenhaal. 

A generational talent who has been involved with some of the most memorable Hollywood outings of the modern era, it’s sad to think that this is what we are now going to get from the talented actor and while the likes of The Covenant and Ambulance are above average affairs, Road House marks an interesting point in the “just having fun” mode of Gyllenhaal’s career trajectory that hopefully doesn’t last too long as he looks to get back to the type of products that made him one of the most reliable presence’s in the industry. 

A film that doesn’t seem to be for anyone in particular and never works in any of its various facets, Road House is often unhinged but not in a memorable way, creating a forgettable and at times regrettable experience (thanks clothe free Conor) that wastes its talent, time and budget. 

Final Say – 

Potentially a product that could have struck the right balance between homage and fun, Road House is a cheap looking and heartless offering that gives us very little to care about or be entertained by. 

2 stab wounds out of 5