Amazon Prime’s Road House is a refreshing change of pace from the woke epidemic of modern entertainment, belonging in the same category as high-testosterone productions like Reacher and The Terminal List. There is barely a whiff of woke in Road House, with its remarkably modest plot about a fictional former UFC champ who takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida beach bar.
The film takes its time letting us get to know our protagonist (Jake Gyllenhaal) before revealing the main plot, but the wait is worth it. Gyllenhaal’s character is set against an unscrupulous local developer who wants the bar’s land and consequently tries to put them out of business. Gyllenhaal hopelessly outclasses local thugs sent to trash the bar until an enormous bruiser (Conor MacGregor) is brought in to finish the job.
More emphasis could have been placed on the comedic elements of the film, particularly the alligator plotline, but Conor MacGregor almost single-handedly brings the cheese, slathering it on in bucketfuls with his villainous ‘heel’ persona from the UFC. MacGregor practically smashes straight out of the television screen with his signature arrogant stride and an enormous goofy grin perpetually plastered on his face like a maniac.
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Regarding Conor MacGregor’s over-the-top, one-note acting style, Gary “Nerdrotic” Beuchler said, “It has to be seen to be believed. I think they just leaned into it. The director was like, ‘You can’t act,’ so just act this way the whole movie. And it’s hilarious!”
Much of Road House feels like a genuine slice of life snipped straight from the lives of real, genuine people with remarkably mundane and ordinary lives, trying to make ends meet and run family businesses. Consequently many characters feel like they could be actual people and not just characters in a film. Jessica Williams (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) and Hannah Love Lanier (Black Ops: Lioness) put in particularly good performances. Lukas Gage (Euphoria) puts in a likable performance as a younger bouncer whom Gyllenhaal takes under his wing. Rapper Post Malone also provides an entertaining cameo at the film’s opening.
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The Amazon Prime film is ostensibly a remake of a 1989 film of the same name starring Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing and Ghost) but is very different in characterization. Swayze’s version of the character is more connected, more emotional, more philosophical, and more in charge of things, while Gyllenhaal is more disconnected and a “sigma.” Gyllenhaal spends much of the film peering bemusedly at the people who try to fight him, even when they pull out knives and guns.
Road House (2024) is not Gyllenhaal’s first outing as a fictional professional fighter. The remarkably versatile actor previously starred in Southpaw (2015), a drama about a broken boxer struggling to get back on his feet.
What did you think of Road House? Will Conor MacGregor make a name for himself in film? Let us know in the comments below!
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