Contains many spoilers
I might have a subconscious obsession with Patrick Swayze. He appeared in Point Break (1991) and is briefly in The Outsiders (1983) which was mentioned in Cageathon #2. He’s not a bad sort to be fixated on so I’ll take it and it’s also a great excuse to write about Donnie Darko (2001) at some point in the future.
For today though, we will be making a stop at the Double Deuce. A soak hole located in Jasper, Missouri which boasts the kind of clientele that glasses first and asks questions later. This is why the Deuce’s owner, Frank Tilghman (Kevin Tighe), travels to a thriving, non-glass throwing nightspot to seek out James Dalton (Patrick Swayze), a famous ‘cooler’ or uber-doorman whose reputation for cleaning up hell holes precedes him. Luckily for Frank, the evening will conveniently showcase why Dalton is the best in the business (or the second best – we’ll get there). When a fight kicks off and Dalton wades in to stop it, one of them slashes his arm with a knife. Before anyone has a chance to note how quickly that escalated, Dalton has him calmly marched outside and even wanders away smirking when ole’ slashy offers to fight him one on one. He then heads to his office and sews up his own wound.
And so begins Road House (1989). I shouldn’t like this film but I honestly do. I admit that some of the adoration is ironic and despite it being a fairly earnest neo-Western action flick, it’s hard to take it seriously. The thing is, the cast and crew did take it seriously and this does shine through during moments of the film. Whilst I’m not necessarily going to argue that Road House is a good film, my intention here is to demonstrate that it is a film worthy of appreciation and is absolutely not a stain on Swayze’s filmography (or as the critic in the Western Mail put it, “a bad joke which Swayze will spend the rest of career regretting”. Ouch).
For research I watched several interviews with the cast and director and enjoyed them very much. I learnt Swayze was trained by mega-kick boxing hard dude Benny Urquidez who capitalised on his talents as a dancer and brought music into their training sessions. What stands out, though, is how much the cast liked and respected one another. In case you’re rolling your eyes and thinking “EVERYONE says that”, it’s worth remembering that this was the late 1980s and unflattering takes did make the cut. Take Hollywood legend, Ben Gazzara’s interview. He’s lounging in an arm chair with a cigar and glass of wine regaling the story of when he was in Prague in 1968 and John Cassavetes called to say he was cast in Husbands (1970). He was there when Russian tanks had rolled in and he quips “the experience was sad…, but it had a happy ending. For me”.
For this reason I’m inclined to believe the set was the genuine love-in everyone said it was. And so, in no particular order, here are the sincere reasons why I believe Road House deserves some appreciation:
Doormen are national celebrities
In the world of Road House, we are asked to believe that doormen are famous. I don’t mean one might have vaguely heard their name, I mean actual gasps and people staring in awe. This is quite the stretch, but I like how it feeds into the Western trope of a stranger with a reputation riding into town and upsetting the status quo. It’s pretty extra but it works in the context of the film and explains why the bad dude, Brad Westley (Ben Gazzara), is so unnerved by Dalton’s arrival and takes the trouble to delve into his past.
It does raise the question as to how people have heard of Dalton. There was no internet so presumably word gets around via print media and word of mouth. Who knows? Road House doesn’t care.
Dalton agrees to Frank’s offer to clean up the Double Deuce (for an insane amount of money) and he rides into town in a cheap second-hand car. For his first night at the Double Deuce, he orders a coffee, props up the bar and quietly takes in the bar’s atmosphere. For starters, people pull out knives like they pull out their wallets and half of the film’s budget went on glass. There is so much broken glass flying around this place that it’s a wonder the bar staff are not slashed to ribbons by just standing there.
Dalton wastes no time and fires the staff who deal drugs, skim money and bang women in the stock room. He gives some sage advice to those doormen left behind: “If someone gets in your face and calls you a cocksucker, be nice” and “no one wins a fight” (despite going on to win many fights). Gradually, the Double Deuce becomes the sort of place where one can grab a drink with friends and not have to pull half of a pint glass out of their face later. It turns out Dalton’s reputation is deserved and it’s very satisfying.
Dalton’s lodgings
Naturally the new unofficial sheriff in Jasper needs somewhere to stay and he soon meets grizzled old Farmer Emmett (Sunshine Parker), who happens to have a rustic flat above his barn. This idyllic lodging, which nowadays would set you back a grand a week on Airbnb, is a snip at $100 a month and is the perfect temporary home for our hero.
I love the detail of this home with its wooden, stripped back simplicity. It perfectly matches his character in that it’s functional and unfussy and it gives the cerebral Dalton the perfect place to read and do tai chi in very tight trousers.
A key point about Emmett’s farm is that it just so happens to be across the lake from Brad Westley’s fancy house. Given how rich Westley is, you’d think he’d have bulldozed Farmer Emmett out of existence and extended but no. Instead he flies his helicopter right over his livestock to piss him off and show what an evil shit he is. Dalton’s choice of a home serves the plot in so many ways and I love how the film makes use of it.
Kelly Lynch as Doc
Lynch plays Dr Elizabeth Clay, known as Doc. She meets Dalton after he has an altercation with Westley’s goons and they shank him. Apparently not so keen on sewing up his own wound this time, he heads to the hospital. Doc and Dalton have a witty meet cute as she staples his cut together. For some reason the medical notes which Dalton insists on carrying around with him note that he has a degree from NYU. Turns out to be philosophy with Dalton seeking “Man’s search for faith. That sort of shit”.
He suggests Doc swings by the Double Deuce (at that time still a knife and glass hellscape) for a cup of coffee. She duly arrives and witnesses Dalton smashing the knees of more useless Brad Westley henchmen. Rather than backing away slowly, Doc is enamoured and their romance begins.
I really do like Lynch in Road House, she plays the Doc as a switched-on, intelligent woman and whilst easily falling for Dalton’s charms, she is portrayed as his equal. It’s believable that she sees something in him that others wouldn’t. Take Westley’s mistress, the local sex-pot Denise (Julie Michaels), who sidles up to Dalton asking if he wants to go to her place and fuck. Dalton is unimpressed. Personally, I love her directness.
The problem is that Doc is very quickly side-lined. When Wade Garrett (Sam Elliot) heads into Jasper to assist Dalton, she is picked up from work by the men and they are “huh-huhing” about her like Beavis and Butthead when she approaches the car.* That same evening, this clever woman with a fascinating career has to quietly smile and listen to the two men exchange war stories, one which concludes with Wade showing her his crab ladder. He later proclaims when she’s heading to the loo that “the gal has entirely too many brains to have an ass like that”. Gotta love the 1980s.
Doc has some other non-leered at moments. It’s believable that Brad Westley is in love with her (apparently she previously left town and he “went nuts” – quite the understatement) and when Dalton attempts to forcibly remove her from work when he fears for her life, she convincingly tells him to do one. Lynch brings something to Doc which I find watchable and despite how terribly underused she is, I was always happy to see her on screen. As an aside, Lynch is very funny – her interviews on the making of Road House were my favourite.
*I must give credit to my friend Laura, she noted this during our WhatsApp conversation when we had a watch party for Road House. It describes this scene perfectly and I have unashamedly pinched it.
Sam Elliot as Wade Garrett
Despite the aforementioned proclamations, Sam Elliot is a welcome presence. The reason Dalton is the second-best cooler in the US is because Wade Garrett is number one and taught Dalton everything he knows.
Dalton calls Wade for advice on handling Brad Westley and, sensing that something isn’t quite right, Wade rolls into town just in time to save Dalton from a kicking. Wade serves several purposes, first to provide support (and eventually murderous motivation) for Dalton but also to give some exposition around Dalton’s past. In short, he got involved with a woman who he didn’t realise was married, her husband stuck a gun in his face and Dalton ripped his throat out. This memory troubles Dalton and apparently has awoken within him a fear that he will throat rip again. I can understand how it might become addictive.
I believe Wade’s main purpose though is to change the trajectory of Dalton’s life. Wade is respected but he has a drinking problem and is now working in a crappy titty bar. In a scene when Dalton is expending his anger on a punching bag, Wade tries to persuade him to leave Jasper and not take on Westley, telling the younger man that he learned as much from him. It’s actually a great fraternal scene and Wade is warning Dalton he may become like him if he doesn’t rethink his life choices. When Wade is later murdered, I was genuinely gutted for Dalton’s loss.
Ben Gazzara as big bad Brad Westley
Gazzara is probably my biggest reason for loving Road House. He is such a great presence and loved playing Westley, particularly because some audiences hissed when he was on screen. There is no doubt that Westley is a fantastic pantomime villain. He swans around town with his oily charm and psychotic main enforcer Jimmy (Marshall Tigue). As his henchmen can attest, Westley’s demeanour means you’re never sure if he’s about to slap you on the back or smash you in the nuts.
It’s this unpredictability which makes him so watchable, he’s all instinct and no sense. Let’s start with the fact that Westley is very rich. Much of his wealth comes from exploiting the honest businessmen of Jasper. The population of this Missouri town in 1989 was approx. 994 people so whilst it’s possible that these businesses were successful, there presumably won’t be many of them to cream profits from. This doesn’t stop Westley from firebombing the motor store run by Red (Red West) and Farmer Emmett’s home. When the town businessmen meet to discuss Westley’s grip of terror, a car salesman tries to persuade Red to stay in town. Westley somehow hears of this and arranges for a monster truck to be driven through his showroom. This is while people are still browsing so potentially the Jasper population was reduced to 989 after that little misunderstanding. The point being that Westley takes out three businesses and doesn’t appear to care about the obvious dent this will make in his profits.
Gazzara makes Westley losing his mind a lot of fun to watch and the payoff is all the more satisfying for it. In true villain style, Westley invites our hero over for a “we’re not so different, you and I” meet (as an aside, I still can’t believe Dalton turns down breakfast in that fancy-ass house: I bet it would have been amazing). Here Westley makes it known he is aware of his throat rippin’ past and wants Dalton to join him. What I love about this exchange is that there is no attempt to show a connection or a modicum of mutual respect between the two men, it’s just full on, cartoonish hatred. When Dalton flounces out of there, you know all bets are off.
Westley’s henchmen
An action film is not complete without henchmen. Their function is to sneer at the hero and then have the living shit kicked out of them before the final boss fight in the third act. Road House pretty much toes that line and Westley dispatches his henchmen out to the Double Deuce when Dalton fires his nephew, Pat (John Doe), for skimming the till. They resemble a crap version of Survivor as seen in the Eye of the Tiger video and however much they get their asses kicked, Westley just keeps deploying them.
One exception to the above rule is Jimmy, mentioned above as Westley’s enforcer. The first proper introduction is after Westley has ordered the firebombing of Red’s store and his evil bunch swan into the Double Deuce to lord it up over Dalton. Now, arguably this scene is purely to have Westley’s hot mistress, Denise, do a sexy dance on stage and flash her baps. I see that would be a highlight but for me it’s all about Jimmy’s fighting skills. He heads to the dancefloor and takes on all comers, wielding a pool cue in way which suggests he put in some serious time with a marching band. He looks like a force to be reckoned with and when Dalton and Wade step up, it doesn’t look like a foregone conclusion. What I love though is that this impressive fight is just a warm up.
There’s an even better one! Dalton and Jimmy have an epic rumble after Emmett’s farmhouse is torched and after dragging the old farmer out, Dalton spots Jimmy cackling maniacally from his motorbike. Dalton knocks Jimmy from his bike and they face off next to the river – it’s Dalton in his tight, sack revealing trousers versus double denim Jimmy. That both actors are trained fighters shows and this scene was filmed over 4-5 nights with them repeating the scuffle 71 times. It’s great and looks as brutal as it sounds. It concludes with Chekov’s throat rip and Dalton throws Jimmy’s body in the river. Westley can only look on from the other side as the lifeless body of his one decent henchman floats by, Dalton bellowing “WESTLEY! FUCK YOU!” the whole time. I won’t lie, I was sad to see Jimmy go.
I could say a lot about the fact that Dalton just shows up to work the next day like nothing has happened but let’s park that for another time.
The Agatha Christie ending
Bear with me on this. Westley has Wade Garrett murdered in revenge for Jimmy’s grisly end which funnily enough does not quell Dalton’s rage. He arrives at Westley’s house and all but throws a car at the waiting henchmen.
Luckily for Dalton they split up and take him on one at a time meaning he can easily dispatch them. The camera switches to a point of view shot here and it’s a bit weird, it reminded me of playing the Nintendo 64 game ‘Goldeneye’ if you could select ‘Rich Dude’s Hunting Lodge’ as a level. Westley eventually appears delivering the classic line “I see you found my trophy room, Dalton. All it needs is your ass”. They grapple and with Westley eventually overpowered, Dalton hovers over him, ready to deliver his special move. To show that he has learned something from Wade, Dalton holds back from the throat rip and lets him live. Hard to do I imagine when one is in the throat rip zone.
Here comes the Agatha Christie ending. Doc arrives and sees Dalton’s restraint which shows her visibly softening after she witnessed him ripping out Jimmy’s throat the night before and understandably freaked out. The businessmen of Jasper also arrive and they each take a shot at Westley, blasting him into his glass coffee table. Frank tells Westley as he’s dying “this is our town”. They probably could have done that years ago but better late than never.
Finally, a police officer inexplicably wanders in, the first one seen for the entirety of the film, and asks what happened. Everyone insists that no one saw anything so the long arm of the law just shrugs and heads back to his pointless office. I realise this is hardly Hercule Poirot but the “we all did it” murder of Westley has a real Murder on the Orient Express vibe and was far more gratifying than Dalton taking another wind pipe trophy. It also signifies that Dalton’s work is done here and he can leave town; the good folks of Jasper have been empowered to sort their own shit out.
The film ends with Dalton and Doc skinny dipping and then knocking boots in the river right next to a scene of mass murder. Aw. Maybe he hangs around town after all.
View from the Ferris Wheel:
Late Night with the Devil (2023) at The Odyssey in St Albans. David Dastmalchian is terrific in this as a ratings seeking late night talk show host. Starts off really promising but loses it in the third act.
Love Lies Bleeding (2024) at Vue in Watford. Brilliant second feature from Rose Glass, very different from her debut Saint Maud (2019) and a solid neo-noir thriller. Great performances from Kristen Stewart and Katy M. O’Brian.
Monkey Man (2024) at The Rex in Berkhamsted. Dev Patel’s directorial debut is a pretty damn great revenge thriller set in Mumbai. This was ultra-violent fun and Patel makes for an excellent action hero. Looking forward to seeing what he does next.
Evil Does Not Exist (2023) at The Rex. Hamaguchi’s film is not easy to explain. Initially appearing to be a straightforward tale of a community protecting their environment from capitalist expansion, it develops into something more strange and surreal. I liked this a lot.
Beautiful Thing (1996) at the BFI Southbank. British romantic comedy directed by Hettie MacDonald. Joyful and funny, it was a real treat seeing this on the big screen.
Germany, Year Zero (1948) and Rome, Open City (1945) at the BFI Southbank as part of their Italian Neo-realism season. I was filling in some film gaps and particularly loved the latter film, Anna Magnani is a knock out.
Challengers (2024) at The Rex. Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis tale. This was fun with three bloody brilliant performances. Superb soundtrack too.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) at the BFI IMAX. Seeing this on the biggest screen possible is recommended. Not as good as Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) but a very decent, watchable prequel.
La Chimera (2023) at the Odyssey. Clearly I can’t get enough of Josh O’Connor – Alice Rohrwacher’s tale of tomb looters in Italy had more elements of magical realism than I expected. It’s also very funny – a real gem of a film.
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (2024) at The Rex. Elene Naveriani’s film was bloody wonderful – it centres on Etero, a single lady living in a Georgian village whose life is changed following a near death experience. One of my favourites of the year so far.
The Dead Don’t Hurt (2023) at the Curzon, Bloomsbury. Viggo Mortensen’s Western is made all the more interesting by focusing on Vicky Krieps as Vivienne. Slow paced and intelligent, it’s very much worth a watch.
Network (1976) at the BFI Southbank. First time ever seeing this classic and blimey was it worth the wait. Hilarious and depressing in equal measure. Nice to be reminded how great Faye Dunaway is on screen.
Teorema (Theorem) (1968) at the BFI Southbank. Terence Stamp as The Visitor shags an entire family and drives them all bonkers. As great as it sounds – beautifully shot and Stamp’s wardrobe is a marvel.
Interstellar (2014) at the BFI IMAX. I’ve been wanting to see this projected on 70mm at the IMAX for some time and it was certainly stunning. The science part of the film stayed with me more than the emotional stuff and I’m currently enjoying Kip Thorn’s book on the science of the film.
Gloria (1980) at the BFI Southbank. Second watch of this film and honestly, Gena Rowlands just gets better. She and John Cassavetes are one of my favourite director/actor collaborations.
Longlegs (2024) at The Prince Charles Cinema. Nic Cage is full on creepy and Maika Monroe as the slightly-too-deadpan FBI agent is very good. Massively overhyped but an enjoyable yarn and I loved the Reddit deep dive afterwards.
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