Road House (1989) is directed by Rowdy Herrington and stars Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, Ben Gazzara, Sam Elliott, Kevin Tighe, Marshall R. Teague, Julie Michaels, Red West, Sunshine Parker, John Doe, Kathleen Wilhoite, and Travis McKenna. The film follows James Dalton (Swayze), a legendary bouncer hired to restore order to a Missouri bar overrun by violent criminals. There, he begins a romance with Elizabeth (Lynch), a local nurse, but soon finds himself at odds with Brad Wesley (Tighe), the town’s powerful crime boos. With the help of his friend, Wade Garrett (Elliot), another famous bouncer, Dalton sets out to free the city from Wesley’s grasp no matter the cost. 

Although I’d understand if someone would see Swayze’s performance as cold and emotionless, I personally find it to be exactly what this movie needs. He’s a controlled, intelligent, and resourceful action protagonist who’s the alpha male definition of “takes no shit.” Back when cassettes and mullets were the name of the game, Swayze proved himself capable of massive star power. He might be plain, but it’s like a Wagyu steak over fire kinda plain. Wagyu is Wagyu. 

Lynch is good in an 80s sex-symbol sort of way, but pretty much fails to be an interesting character outside of her steamy romance with Swayze. That being said, the problem is clearly the script and not her performance itself. She’s only treated as nothing more than eye candy or as a tool to hurt the protagonist, but at least she provides a bit of charisma. 

Sam Elliot is a treat as Wade Garrett, a wonderfully entertaining supporting character who’s essentially the aging mentor to Swayze. Elliot has a history of playing iconic side characters, and this is one of his best. He plays perfectly into his trademark persona and it’s arguably the best example of what makes his charisma so one-of-a-kind. 

The remaining cast injects various levels of camp into their performances which ends up making up for the fact that their characters aren’t particularly complex. I can see how a few of them would be considered iconic to the film’s hardcore fans, but it’s hard to ignore how dimwitted they often act. Everyone is a complete scumbag whose response to even the slightest disagreement is to immediately break a bottle over someone’s head. They’re also just unrealistic in the sense that the same guys try to kick Swayze’s ass, fail, get their asses kicked, then come back a day later and try again. Guess what? They get their asses kicked again. Everyone acts sort of cartoonish in a grindhouse sense, but it all ends up being fun despite its silliness. It’s a really good example of campy filmmaking.

The experience of Road House is distinctly 80s and for that reason will stand the test of time as a capsule of macho filmmaking. It’s maybe, by modern standards, the definition of a film that wreaks toxic masculinity – homophobic jokes, naked women, and all problems being solved with violence. There’s even a subplot where Michael switches his car multiple times seemingly so the film has an excuse to appeal to the car lovers in the audience. 

The film’s approach is essentially a modern western infused with elements of kung-fu action. Although the script isn’t as tightly written as a person would desire in a dramatic sense, the mixture of kung fu and Western has always felt like a natural match. The fights are brutal, well-paced, and consistently implement increasing stakes. This leads to a third-act sequence in particular that is unequivocally one of the best hand-to-hand fights in cinema. It is a bit jarring, however, that our protagonist becomes what is essentially a slasher villain in the film’s final sequence. Yes, his journey to anger is established well, it’s just tonally jarring in terms of how it plays out on screen. Again, it’s strange but it works in favor of the movie’s campiness. 

Overall, this is one of the most iconic “guy movies” of all time and features a lead performance by Swayze that succeeds by relying on his natural charisma and not giving a damn about having “range” as an actor. It’s often dumb, misogynistic, and technically unimpressive, but despite all of that, it’s a kickass time that mostly holds up to modern viewing. It’s no wonder low-IQ action lovers adore this film, and there’s nothing wrong with that! It’s dumb, but the best kind of dumb. B