Road House (1989 film)

Road House is a 1989 American action film directed by Rowdy Herrington and starring Patrick Swayze as a bouncer at a newly refurbished roadside bar who protects a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman3 Sam Elliott also plays a bouncer, the mentor, friend and foil of Swayze's character The cast also includes Kelly Lynch as Swayze's love interest, and Ben Gazzara as the main antagonist

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception
- 41 Critical response
- 42 Box office
- 43 Accolades
5 Soundtrack
6 Cultural impact
- 61 Sequel
- 62 Musical
- 63 As a training video
7 Remake
8 References
9 External links

Plotedit

James Dalton Patrick Swayze is a professional "cooler" ie specialized doorman, or bouncer with a mysterious past who is enticed from his current job at a club in New York City by Frank Tilghman Kevin Tighe to take over security at his club/bar, the Double Deuce, in Jasper, Missouri Tilghman plans to invest substantial money into the club to enhance its image, and needs a first-rate cooler to maintain stability

Arriving in Jasper, Dalton eventually takes lodging at a local farm owned by Emmett "Sunshine" Parker He attracts attention driving his 1965 Buick Riviera and having a quiet demeanor—contrasting with the tough locals Dalton's "real" car is a 1986 Mercedes 560SEC with New York license plates, which he keeps hidden at a private garage and later under a car cover in his landlord's barn in Jasper because it becomes a target for disgruntled bar patrons Dalton is soon introduced to local business magnate and next door neighbor Brad Wesley Ben Gazzara, who appears to have a stranglehold on the town; little happens without his knowledge and approval In the course of cleaning up the violent nightclub, Dalton dismisses several unruly and corrupt employees, some of whom are connected with Wesley After one particularly violent night where Dalton is forced to physically remove Wesley's henchmen, he suffers a knife wound Going to the hospital for stitches, he strikes up a friendship with Dr Elizabeth "Doc" Clay Kelly Lynch, which develops into a romantic relationship

Wesley summons Dalton to his home in a seemingly innocent attempt to make peace, but has an ulterior motive: Wesley would like Dalton to work for him once he extorts Tilghman's club When Dalton declines, Wesley begins an assault on Dalton's friends, including interfering with liquor deliveries to the Double Deuce Dalton's mentor, legendary but aging cooler Wade Garrett Sam Elliott, arrives in town after a disconcerting phone call from Dalton and helps him defend a liquor shipment from Wesley's thugs

That evening, local business owner Red Webster's Red West auto parts store is destroyed by a fire after he refuses to give ground to Wesley's persistent extortion demands Dalton, not wanting to exacerbate matters, allows Wesley and his men entrance to the club that night The next day, car dealership owner Pete Stroudenmire becomes Wesley's next victim when he also refuses to pay As a result, Wesley has one of his thugs, Gary Ketchum Anthony De Longis, demolish the dealership and crush four station wagons in the showroom with his monster truck BIGFOOT #7 as Dalton and his friends look on with contempt

That night, Doc visits Dalton and attempts to persuade him to leave However, their conversation is interrupted by a powerful explosion at Emmett's house next door Dalton rescues Emmett from the blaze before his house is destroyed He then witnesses one of Wesley's henchmen, Jimmy Marshall Teague, fleeing the scene, and manages to intercept him After a vicious fight, Dalton kills Jimmy by ripping out his throat with his bare hand The next morning, Dalton receives an ominous phone call from Wesley, who vows to have either Wade or Doc killed At that moment, a badly beaten Wade staggers into the Double Deuce Believing Doc to be in danger, Dalton races to the hospital alone but she refuses to leave with him, repulsed by his increasingly violent nature Upon returning to the Double Deuce, Dalton finds Wade sprawled out on the bar with a knife lodged in his chest In tears of rage, Dalton pulls the knife free and jumps into his car, determined to settle the score with Wesley

Driving his Mercedes, Dalton speeds recklessly toward Wesley's estate The car draws gunfire from Wesley's henchmen but when it crashes they discover the car empty, and the knife that was used to kill Wade stuck in the accelerator Using the distraction, Dalton sneaks onto the estate on foot and, one by one, dispatches each of Wesley's thugs, eventually coming face-to-face with Wesley Dalton gains the upper hand in their fight and prepares to finish Wesley in the same brutal manner as Jimmy, but decides against it As Dalton releases him and walks away, Wesley seizes the opportunity to reach for a gun, but is promptly shot to death by Red, Emmett, Stroudenmire, and Tilghman They stash the weapons away prior to the arrival of law enforcement and proceed to corroborate each other's innocence, with the implication that what happened in Wesley's house will remain a secret

The final scene finds Dalton and Doc enjoying each other's company in a swimming hole, suggesting that they do get together and Dalton remains in town for good

Castedit

Patrick Swayze as James Dalton
Kelly Lynch as Dr Elizabeth "Doc" Clay
Sam Elliott as Wade Garrett
Ben Gazzara as Brad Wesley
Kevin Tighe as Frank Tilghman
Red West as Red Webster
Jeff Healey as Cody
"Sunshine" Parker as Emmett
Marshall Teague as Jimmy
John Doe as Pat McGurn
Kathleen Wilhoite as Carrie Ann
Terry Funk as Morgan
Julie Michaels as Denise
Anthony De Longis as Gary Ketchum
Travis McKenna as Jack
Keith David as Ernie Bass, the new bartender

Productionedit

The Double Deuce scenes were filmed in Newhall, California The bar was constructed for the movie and dismantled once filming was completed The filming of much of the "New Double Deuce" was done at the Cowboy/The Bandstand which went by other names as well until it closed located at 1721 S Manchester Ave in Anaheim, California Scenes involving Brad Wesley's house and the house in which Dalton rents a room were filmed outside of Sanger, California, and the opening and monster truck scenes were filmed in Reedley, California The Kings River runs between the two residences

Receptionedit

Critical responseedit

The film had a mixed reception with critics Negative reviews such as one published by Variety is critical of "a flat romantic attachment" between Dalton and Clay while garnering criticism since its "vigilante justice, lawlessness and wanton violence feel ludicrous in a modern setting"4 Other reviews are critical of Swayze's role as Dalton5 clarification needed6

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2½ out of 4 stars and commented that "'Road House' exists right on the edge between the 'good-bad movie' and the merely bad I hesitate to recommend it, because so much depends on the ironic vision of the viewer This is not a good movie But viewed in the right frame of mind, it is not a boring one, either"7 The film has earned a 38% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 5/108

When interviewed by Anthony Bourdain, Bill Murray lauded the film as unappreciated, with a complex plot and respect among actors in the film industry since its release9

Box officeedit

Although the film was not a major box office success, it did quite well on home video10111213 The film also found life on cable television14 Over time, the movie has garnered a cult following

Accoladesedit

Road House was nominated for but did not win five Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Actor Patrick Swayze, Worst Supporting Actor Ben Gazzara, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made15

Soundtrackedit

The soundtrack for Road House featured the Canadian guitarist Jeff Healey, whose band was featured in the film as the house band for the Double Deuce Cruzados were the band in the opening credits, contributing three songs to the film that never made the soundtrack Patrick Swayze also wrote one song and sang two for the soundtrack The film's score was composed by Michael Kamen1617

Road House soundtrack album
No	Title	Writers	Artist	Length
1	"Roadhouse Blues"	Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, John Densmore, Ray Manzarek	The Jeff Healey Band	4:51
2	"Blue Monday"	Dave Bartholomew, Antoine "Fats" Domino	Bob Seger	2:22
3	"I'm Tore Down"	Sonny Thompson	The Jeff Healey Band	4:26
4	"These Arms of Mine"	Otis Redding	Otis Redding	2:31
5	"When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky"	Bob Dylan	The Jeff Healey Band	4:54
6	"Rad Gumbo"	Bill Payne, Paul Barrere, Martin Kibbee, Sam Clayton, Kenny Gradney	Little Feat	3:30
7	"Raising Heaven In Hell Tonight"	Willie Nile, Martin Briley	Patrick Swayze	4:41
8	"A Good Heart"	Maria McKee	Kris McKay	4:59
9	"I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man"	Willie Dixon	The Jeff Healey Band	5:14
10	"Cliff's Edge"	Patrick Swayze, Stacy Widelitz, Bob Marlette	Patrick Swayze	4:01
Total length:				41:34

Cultural impactedit

Sequeledit

A sequel, Road House 2, was released directly to DVD in July 2006 Set many years later and telling the story of Dalton's adult son, it featured no one from the original cast and only a few references to Dalton who was reportedly shot dead before the film took place The sequel confirmed that Dalton's first name was James, which could be seen momentarily on the medical chart in the original film's hospital scene, but which had been otherwise unstated At the same time Road House 2 was released, the original film was reissued in a deluxe edition featuring, among other features, separate audio commentary tracks by director Herrington, Kevin Smith, and Scott Mosier, which the duo had expressed an interest in during the introduction of the tenth anniversary Clerks DVD18

Musicaledit

In 2003, an off-Broadway musical production of Road House was staged as a campy comedy by Timothy Haskell, as seen by its full title of Road House: The Stage Version Of The Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze, Except This One Stars Taimak From The 80’s Cult Classic "The Last Dragon" Wearing A Blonde Mullet Wig19

As a training videoedit

It was reported that the NYPD was using a scene from Road House as part of the mandatory, three-day retraining course for 22,000 officers20

Remakeedit

On September 9, 2015, it was announced that Ronda Rousey would star in a remake of Road House21 On October 12, 2015, Nick Cassavetes was announced to write and direct the film,22 however after Ronda's loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 on November 15, 2015, the project was taken out of productioncitation needed

Referencesedit

^ "ROAD HOUSE 18" British Board of Film Classification 1989-06-05 Retrieved 2012-01-27
^ "MOVIES SEXY SWAYZE On the Set of His First Film Since `Dirty Dancing'" Los Angeles Times 1988-07-24 Retrieved 2011-01-28
^ Benson, Sheila 1989-05-28 "Losing Sight of the Reasons for Success Film makers sometimes have blind spots when they seek to capitalize on an earlier movie" Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2011-01-28
^ "Road House" Variety 1988-12-31 Retrieved 2011-05-02
^ James, Caryn 1989-05-19 "Road House" The New York Times Retrieved 2011-05-02
^ Benson, Sheila 1989-05-19 "MOVIE REVIEW Taste Takes a Detour in `Road House'" Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2011-01-28
^ Ebert, Roger 1989-05-19 "Road House:: rogerebertcom:: Reviews" Rogerebertcom Retrieved 18 May 2011
^ "Road House 1989" Rotten Tomatoes Flixster Retrieved November 19, 2015
^ "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown | Netflix" wwwnetflixcom Retrieved 2016-05-19
^ Easton, Nina J 1989-05-23 "Swayze Flexes Box-Office Muscle" Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2011-01-28
^ Atkinson, Terry 1989-12-15 "VIDEO WHAT'S NEW A Weekend Designed for Crystal Gazing THIS WEEK'S MOVIES" Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2011-01-28
^ Hunt, Dennis 1990-01-18 "Road House' Looks Like a Hit" Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2011-01-28
^ King, Susan 2006-07-18 "Where nothing is as it seems" Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2011-01-28
^ Marr, Merissa; Peers, Martin 2004-07-07 "MGM's Library Of Old Movies Puts It in Spotlight" The Wall Street Journal
^ Wilson, John 2005 The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst Grand Central Publishing ISBN 0-446-69334-0
^ http://wwwallmusiccom/album/road-house-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-mw0000203571
^ http://jeffhealeycom/album/road-house-soundtrack/
^ 1 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Road House" Eljallartsannexcom Retrieved 2014-06-13
^ Celona, Larry; Golding, Bruce 2015-02-24 "NYPD using 'Road House' movie to teach cops how to 'be nice'" New York Post
^ Brandon Davis September 9, 2015 "Ronda Rousey To Star In Road House Reboot" comicbookcom Retrieved September 9, 2015
^ Kroll, Justin October 12, 2015 "Nick Cassavetes to Write, Direct Ronda Rousey's Road House" Variety

External linksedit

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Road House

Road House on Internet Movie Database
Road House at Box Office Mojo
Road House at Rotten Tomatoes

v e Films directed by Rowdy Herrington
Jack's Back 1988 Road House 1989 Gladiator 1992 Striking Distance 1993 A Murder of Crows 1999 The Stickup 2002 I Witness 2003 Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius 2004