Roadhouse (1989)
You have to admit it: Patrick Swayze is a great actor. I don't mean "great actor" like Inside the Actor's Studio great, a lot of those actors actually suck. I mean someone who can make what would be a totally non-descript studio movie and inject something intersting and unexpected into it. Patrick Swayze did that a number of times, not least in Roadhouse.
The plot of Roadhouse is classic Western: a new sheriff comes to town and has to take care of the amoral asshole who's put himself above the law. But rather than a frontier town, Roadhouse is set in a small southern town, and rather than being a sheriff, Swayze is the head bouncer at, you guessed it, a roadhouse.
There are no surprises in store for you (except perhaps for Patrick Swayze RIPPING A MAN'S THROAT OUT... whoops i gave it away) unless you've forgotten that back in the 80's action movies did what they did unapologetically. Nowadays you'll rarely see an action movie that doesn't make some kind of claim, however feeble, to relevancy by referencing world events or politics. And what's with all the PG-13 action movies? Jason Bourne, i'm looking at you. We're not wasting any time with that kinda stuff here. It's all violence, cursing, and ridiculously plastic blonde women frolicking naked with Swayze (also naked.) Times sure have changed, but it's nice to look back.
As i alluded to above, this could be a pretty awful experience if not for some good acting, not only by Swayze, but also Sam Elliott and Ben Gazara. And the roadhouse's band plays a string of classic rock covers that sound just about as good as the originals. Some ridiculous plotting and a kinda goofy final scene aside, this is one of the forgotten greats.
The plot of Roadhouse is classic Western: a new sheriff comes to town and has to take care of the amoral asshole who's put himself above the law. But rather than a frontier town, Roadhouse is set in a small southern town, and rather than being a sheriff, Swayze is the head bouncer at, you guessed it, a roadhouse.
There are no surprises in store for you (except perhaps for Patrick Swayze RIPPING A MAN'S THROAT OUT... whoops i gave it away) unless you've forgotten that back in the 80's action movies did what they did unapologetically. Nowadays you'll rarely see an action movie that doesn't make some kind of claim, however feeble, to relevancy by referencing world events or politics. And what's with all the PG-13 action movies? Jason Bourne, i'm looking at you. We're not wasting any time with that kinda stuff here. It's all violence, cursing, and ridiculously plastic blonde women frolicking naked with Swayze (also naked.) Times sure have changed, but it's nice to look back.
As i alluded to above, this could be a pretty awful experience if not for some good acting, not only by Swayze, but also Sam Elliott and Ben Gazara. And the roadhouse's band plays a string of classic rock covers that sound just about as good as the originals. Some ridiculous plotting and a kinda goofy final scene aside, this is one of the forgotten greats.
posted by Chris @ 7:16 AM
2 Comments:
At 9:38 AM,
Jon said…
two priceless roadhouse moments are 1) swayze nodding in time to the music by jerking his head up in the introduction of this character, and 2) when he catches those dudes destroying some stuff in a truck and one guy is still breaking bottles even as he starts one-on-one fighting them off.
At 10:23 AM,
Chris said…
smashy smashy! that part was really good. i also like the line during the big martial arts fight: "i used to fuck guys like you in prison!"
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