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Road House (1989)

DVD Cover (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Reissue)
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Overall Rating 63%
Overall Rating
Ranked #1,800
...out of 20,324 movies
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Connections: Road House

When it becomes too violent at the Double Deuce road house, the club owner hires Dalton, a professional "cooler" (head bouncer) to clean it up. But Dalton's early successes and budding romance with the local doctor enrages Wesley, the town crime boss. When Dalton continues to defy him, the stage is set for a dramatic confrontation that will test Dalton's limits and decide the fate of the town. --IMDb
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Review by bluemeanie
Added: August 27, 2007
There's a new bouncer in town, and his name is...Patrick Swayze?

Following the success of "Dirty Dancing", where he spent most of the time dancing, he moved onto a more graceful form of movement -- ass whipping. Sure, Swayze isn't the first person you think of when you imagine a man getting his neck broken, but after seeing "Road House" -- he will be.

More of a cooler than a bouncer, Patrick Swayze stars as James Dalton, who is brought into the roughest bar in town to clean things up and make it a fine drinking establishment for rednecks and whores. Trouble is, the local rich man, Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara), doesn't want Dalton's kind in town and does everything in his power to make sure he leaves town...potentially in a body bag. We get Sam Elliot being the bad ass he was born to be in a delicious supporting role, we get Jeff Healy with a musical cameo in all his blind glory, and we get Kelly Lynch with her big hair and horrible costumes being as trailer trash as she needs to be. Ah, "Road House".

This movie owes more to parody than anything else. What makes the film work is how absurd and comical the situations are, whether they were intended that way or not. Swayze is as serious as a heart attack as Dalton and probably thought he would win his first Oscar for this one. Ben Gazzara chews up the scenery, a fine example of an amazing actor getting to just have scary fun for ninety minutes. All of the ass kicking scenes are just how they need to be, especially the final showdown between Swayze and Gazzara's goon. Watch that dance they do and tell me it doesn't have homoeroticism written all over it. It's just so elegant.

"No one ever wins a fight".
"My way or the highway."
"Take the biggest guy in the world, shatter his knee, and he'll drop like a stone".

"If somebody gets in your face and calls you a cocksucker, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won't walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can't walk him, one of the others will help you, and you'll both be nice. I want you to remember that it's a job. It's nothing personal" -- yeah, that's right -- Swayze says 'cocksucker'.

Wanna fight about it?

Just another adrenaline fueled fight fest from the 1980's that is so workable because it's so wrecked. You can't watch this film and not howl with laughter, most consistently at Kelly Lynch's hair. "Road House" is a guy movie, plain and simple. Wimps and pansies need not watch.

8/10.
Ginose #1: Ginose - added August 27, 2007 at 11:26pm
I'd have to say that this was one of the more suprisingly entertaining movies I've seen. I went into it actually thinking it'd be another stupid action film... I was not let down, but instead suprised by the very interesting performances that riddled this film... Fun as hell to watch fists flying and fces falling. 7.7/10

...I still think I could kick Patrick Swayze's ass.
bluemeanie #2: bluemeanie - added August 27, 2007 at 11:36pm
If you really are the man in your avatar, then yes, I think you could definitely kick Patrick Swayze's ass.
Ginose #3: Ginose - added August 27, 2007 at 11:38pm
Hell, if I were really the man in my avatar I could catch bullets in my pecs and shit diamonds.
bluemeanie #4: bluemeanie - added August 28, 2007 at 12:00am
I guess those would be blood diamonds...
ThunderStruck5a #5: ThunderStruck5a - added August 28, 2007 at 12:24am
this films a classic
Zombieboy #6: Zombieboy - added December 30, 2008 at 12:01pm
Had a lady tell me once I was much more Sam than Sawyze. I kissed her a lot after that ;)
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