Road House

"Pain don't hurt."
-Dalton

There are few action films of the past quarter century as riveting as Road House, the 1989 adrenaline-filled thriller starring Patrick Swayze. Swayze may be better remembered for his roles in The Outsiders, Dirty Dancing, and Ghost, but they all, frankly, are inferior to Road House, a tour de force demonstration of effective film-making, and just about the most fun you could have watching a movie.

Swayze is Dalton, the number-two professional cooler in the country. He's hired to pack his bags and head to Missouri to work at a bar called the Double Deuce (which is just about the coolest name ever). There, he delivers a powerful set of instructions to his team: "All you have to do is follow three simple rules. One, never underestimate your opponent. Expect the unexpected. Two, take it outside. Never start anything inside the bar unless it's absolutely necessary. And three, be nice." This succinct yet brilliant knowledge is one that could be used in virtually any type of workplace.

Co-starring as one hell of a villain is Ben Gazzara, who finally was able to find a role that suited him. Gazzara was terribly misused in sleep-inducing atrocities like Anatomy of a Murder and The Big Lebowski. Here, he was finally handed material worthy of him, and away he went. He holds no punches, so to speak, when slithering about; if anything, he should have chewed up the scenery even more and not held back. Gazzara is Brad Wesley, a business magnate terrorizing the Missouri town where the Double Deuce is located. Wesley is sort of the John Gotti of the South, and only Dalton can stop him. Of course, he'll need help, and help he gets in the form of his very own Obi-Wan Kenobi: the number-one cooler in the country, Wade Garrett, played by legendary Sam Elliott.

In a weaker film, Dalton would be considered a deranged maniac, but here he is a protagonist with a heart, a happy warrior warmly embracing vigilantism, taking the law in his own hands to protect his adopted home. But is this, as philosopher Aeon J. Skolbe (who has written about the ethics of vigilantism in Taxi Driver) might ask, defensive vigilantism or adventuresome vigilantism? One is defensible, the other isn't. I would argue that Dalton embraces more of the former. Of those he defends from the cruel Wesley and his gang is his girlfriend (a doctor played by Kelly Lynch), a local store owner, the man whose pristine farm Dalton stays and meditates at, and many others. Even the Double Deuce starts to prosper thanks to Dalton's protection.

There is a certain degree of seriousness that is present here missing in other motion pictures of the past quarter century. And given that it faced serious competition with a host of 1989 blockbusters (among them The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, and License to Kill), it's not surprising why this hidden gem has never received its deserved acclaim. But it's not simply its action scenes and political allegories that make this movie impressive; it's its screenplay. Some of its lines ("I used to fuck guys like you in prison!") are not for everyone, but I truly think that this screenplay could make this movie the Citizen Kane of action flicks.

Forget about Spotlight, last year's Best Picture winner. Forget about the new blockbuster Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Forget about classics like 12 Angry Men. Forget about any other movie. Watch Road House, this forgotten treasure, as soon as possible.


HAFD