{"id":84160,"date":"2024-03-20T22:40:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T22:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/20\/road-house-review-jake-gyllenhaal-cant-save-remake\/"},"modified":"2024-03-20T22:40:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T22:40:17","slug":"road-house-review-jake-gyllenhaal-cant-save-remake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/20\/road-house-review-jake-gyllenhaal-cant-save-remake\/","title":{"rendered":"Road House Review: Jake Gyllenhaal Can\u2019t Save Remake"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Amazon MGM Studios<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Road House earns 2.5 stars (out of 4) from Us Weekly movie critic Mara Reinstein.<\/em><\/p>\n

Confirmed: The original Road House<\/em> is not an untouchable piece of art. Starring Patrick Swayze<\/strong> as a Missouri bar bouncer with a mullet and a violent streak to match, this is the blessedly brainless \u201980s movie to watch on a long-haul flight when trying to pass the time. Spinning it into something fresh and fun for 2024 shouldn\u2019t be difficult.<\/p>\n

So why is the remake so grueling to watch? Even with a game Jake Gyllenhaal<\/strong><\/a> in the lead?!<\/p>\n

Perhaps the predictable twists, one-dimensional characters and distracting CGI are to blame. Or that the climactic action sequence is set way outside the roadhouse bar \u2026 and in a speedboat on the water. But that\u2019s all too easy. The big problem is that though Gyllenhaal brings his enviable screen presence (and boasts abs that would make any Ken jealous), Road House<\/em><\/a> ultimately devolves into a Serious Movie and demands the audience to treat it as such. Bloody no!<\/p>\n

In both versions, plot should be thrown out the window along with the bad guys. Here goes anyway: Gyllenhaal is totally credible as Elwood Dalton, a former UFC middleweight on the downswing because of a shady incident that ended his career. (Post Malone<\/strong> plays one of his ready-to-rumble opponents.) His reputation attracts the attention of a woman named Frankie (Jessica Williams<\/strong>). She owns a roadhouse in the sunny Florida Keys named, um, Road House. But her establishment keeps getting menaced by a bunch of motorcycle-riding goons. She needs Dalton. And he needs the lofty $20k-a-month salary.<\/p>\n

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At first, dropkicking the biker gang is a breezy day at the beach. In a too-rare light moment, Dalton casually asks the dudes about dental insurance and for the location of the closest hospital before going all UFC on them. (He ends up piling them into his car and driving to the ER with a Beach Boys song blaring on the radio.) He soon realizes they\u2019re all just minions. Villain No. 1 is Ben Brandt (Billy Magnussen<\/strong>), a power player desperate for the keys to the Road House so he can please his offscreen jailed father and develop the property. So, basically, an obnoxious and controlling tech bro in any other action movie.<\/p>\n

Because Brandt has corrupted the local police and few would dare to care about greedy real-estate holdings in the Sunshine State, it\u2019s up to Dalton to protect the Road House and save the town from all these bullies.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tRelated: <\/span>Jake Gyllenhaal Set to Star in \u2018Road House\u2019 Movie Remake: Everything to Know<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tJake Gyllenhaal underwent a full body transformation for his upcoming role in Road House, a remake of the 1989 movie of the same name. \u201cIt\u2019s been an incredible experience working with actual real fighters \u2014 reimagining a classic \u2014 there\u2019s been a lot of the physical,\u201d Gyllenhaal, 43, told Entertainment Tonight in January 2024. Gyllenhaal [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dalton also finds time to fall for an ER doctor (Daniela Melchior<\/strong>) who strongly disapproves of him strong-arming the wrong crowd. With a lack of chemistry and passion, the romance \u2014 ostensibly just one kiss \u2014 serves zero purpose except to remind audiences this intimidating bouncer is still dealing with some vague trauma. What a wasted opportunity to make worthy use out of Gyllenhaal in brawny action-hero mode.<\/p>\n

Road House<\/em> \u201989, of course, has its own issues. (There\u2019s a reason it only became a cult classic years later.) But its sweaty, rough-and-tumble action scenes made up for the lack of substance. Most of the fights in this 2.0 version were obviously created on a fancy computer \u2014 and carry little emotional punch. (This, even though Dalton refrains from guns and knives and exclusively fights with his fists!) Less is more: There\u2019s no need to endure the rigamarole of low-rent explosions and a crocodile attack and that boat chase when it\u2019s much more satisfying to see the confident Dalton extol his knowledge about the anatomy of the human body and then disarming a man\u2019s finger so he can\u2019t pull a trigger.<\/p>\n

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