WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
I’ll be completely honest with you, I had never seen the original Road House before writing this article but I still had reservations regarding Jake Gyllenhaal taking on the role. I’m just going to point out that this is a complete me-problem because I don’t rate him as much of an actor so I’ll do my best to keep my bias out of the article.
Opening Scene
Of course, both films naturally start off with the introduction to the character of Dalton along with each of the films respective “road house” owners coming to request his help. However, the scenes in general are very different. For example, when we are first introduced to Swayze’s Dalton, he is already an established bouncer in a different establishment whereas our introduction to Gyllenhaal is at a bare knuckle fight. It’s obvious from both that their reputation precede them – especially as Post Malone’s cameo character refuses to fight Dalton. For me, the idea of the opening scene of the bare knuckle fighting ring does not go along with a character trying to get away from his penchant for violence.
Fighting their Demons
Naturally, both versions of Dalton are written as running away from something – however the two characters portrayed in different ways. For example, Swayze seems to have this relaxed and casual air about him that avoids a fight unless he absolutely has to get involved and this is the idea he wants to pass on to the other bouncers at Double Duece. Now, that’s not say that they don’t include this in Gyllenhaal’s version but when you are introduced to him in a bare knuckle ring you can see that this isn’t a character looking to avoid the fight. On top of this, they seem to paint his Dalton as slightly suicidal as he parks his character on the train tracks and waits until the last minute to start the engine.
Of course as part of this I want to reference the demon they are running from. In both films, it is mentioned that Dalton killed a man. In the original film, it is mentioned by Wade that the reason Dalton killed is because he had a gun to his face and was acting in self-defence. Now, I don’t know if that is truly a defence for ripping a man’s throat out but in my opinion that this isn’t as bad as the fact the Gyllenhaal’s Dalton just seems to lose his mind in the ring and punch a man to death in the remake.
Fighting Styles
Now, I’m sure it’s well known that Swayze was an already trained martial artist prior to Road House whereas Jake Gyllenhaal’s only main fighting experience was for South Paw but had only trained specifically for strength and stamina then adding isometrics and grappling to his repertoire as this is required for MMA fighting. Interestingly, their differing fighting styles is also shown the difference between their body shapes as well. For example, Swayze is lean in comparison to Gyllenhaal’s bulk.
Saving the Double Deuce
I’m going to be honest, going into this having never seen the original film before and only basing the storyline on what I had seen from the trailer for the remake – I was expecting the main story to be about the saving the titular ‘road house’ (not that the Double Deuce is ever referred to as such in the original) but in the original it turns out there is so much more to it than that but for now I’ll focus on this part of the story. Now, of course this is shown in the remake but the two stories slightly blend together as the story is save the Road House from its overall clientele as well as from the rich businessman.
This is Our Town
I mentioned before that there was more to the story than just the rescuing of a run-down road house. Well, in the original film the main story line is actually focused around a corrupt man by the name of Brad Wesley trying to run Dalton out of town partly because of him firing his nephew but also it seems because he is getting close to Wesley’s love interest in Elizabeth. When I say that Wesley is corrupt, we see throughout the film the damage he is doing to the small town of Jersey, Mississippi and the way he is extorting the local business owners. With everything added together, along with the final threat to the lives of the people Dalton cares most about, an unexpected amount of violence ensues towards the end of the film. Not only does Dalton take his revenge to an extent but the locals rise up against Wesley. However, in the remake, the vendetta is specifically against the Road House and Ben Brandt’s need to demolish the building.
The Love Interest
I hinted at this a little bit earlier in the article that Dalton’s love interest in the original film is that of Elizabeth – a former paramour of the antagonist Brad Wesley. Now, there is a similar relationship between Gyllenhaal’s Dalton and Ellie, just it doesn’t seem to have to same feel about the whole dynamic. In both films Dalton meets Elizabeth/Ellie under similar circumstances – in the hospital being patched up but it seems because of her past in the Florida Keys and her experience with the patrons of the Road House, Ellie has a much darker demeanour than that of Elizabeth. Their start is also less romantic than in the original film but I will be honest, with the change of the road house owner from male to female – I was expecting the storyline to change in this area and Frankie would turn out to be the love interest but I’m glad to see they kept it reasonably the same.
The one thing I will say however, is I do not feel they develop the relationship between Dalton and Ellie to have the same emotion behind the final scenes as in the original film.
Enjoy the Little Things
One of my favourite things about the original film is that even though we are focused on the main plot between Dalton and Wesley, in the background – we gradually watch the Double Duece’s transformation from the run down Road House when Dalton first arrives, to the almost restaurant/bar style including uniforms for the remaining staff. However, this is not something that features in the remake as this is not exactly integral to the overall plot.
Homage to the Original
Of course there are similar scenes and similar lines between the two films but this is typical of main remakes. Now, interestingly (and quite lazily) the road house in the remake is named Road House. But, as a nod to the original film when Dalton first arrives in the Florida Keys there is a restaurant named Double Duece, the same as the Road House Swayze’s Dalton works for.
In Conclusion
I actually thought I was going to end this by saying I really disliked the remake but honestly, it was a lot better than I expected – may actually be one of the better films Gyllenhaal has made in my opinion. I do still prefer the original because it just had that little bit over the remake but let’s just say I wouldn’t say no to watching the 2024 version again.
