There is nothing like going back and re-visit some of the fondly remembered films of your past and Road House is such an archetype of its time. It's amazing that a film that's basically just an excuse for showing hot women and to please everyone, Patrick Swayze without his shirt, as much as possible.
I will not go into the plot because I think just about everyone knows it's ridiculous. Just state that I was surprised how much graphic violence it has. I must have been drunk the first time I saw it, because the fight scenes went straight to the garbage bin of my mind at the time.
Anyway, what is so attractive about this is the film's inane dialogue. There is actually a character who says: "I used to "bleep" guys like you in prison" to try and intimidate Swayze's character, Dalton. It's amazing that Swayze could finish that scene with a straight face. The bloopers must be a riot to watch.
There is one more reason why I like this film and that is Jeff Healey. I think this is the only time he ever tried acting and he does a really good job. His southern accent is believable even though he is from Canada and the songs are a nice mix of covers, past songs from the band and of course best of all The Doors cover. One little fault: Jeff Healey normally only played lead guitar in rare instances, but here (because the songs are playback), he is able to both play the rhythm and lead guitar at the same time. I saw him live where he had the ugliest lead guitar player in history and it's a shame that they didn't include somebody to play him because I think he didn't use the same guy in all his concerts. Anyway, it was nice to see his two other regular band members get some shots in the movie.
The score by Michael Kamen is pretty good, but it sounds an awful lot like the score from Lethal Weapon which has been pointed out by Oliver Harper on Retrospective Reviews.
There are however major flaws with the flick that I simply can't overlook. Kelly Lynch is given the most ridiculous character to play and one of her lines comparing Dalton's character to that of the bad guy made me almost faint in disbelief. The bad guy Wesley is nicely played by Ben Gazzara by the way. I am not a huge fan of his and in many of his roles he goes overboard with his method training (the worst performance was his Al Capone), but fortunately he is very low key and has a nice moment where we see that he does have a conscience buried deep inside the character.
I will not mention the director because this is definitely a Joel Silver production if ever there was one. I don't know why he feels that he has to show women who are humiliating themselves and don't get me wrong. I don't object to naked women on screen but there is one character who taunts Dalton and it's the most excruciatingly bad scene to sit through. That scene alone is why I give the film such a low rating.
The ending is very cheesy. Wesley has such a stranglehold on the town that the citizens don't stand up to him. What do they do to make up for that. I won't reveal it but it is one of the more unbelievable parts of the movie, but then the whole thing ain't exactly a documentary to begin with.
I will not go into the plot because I think just about everyone knows it's ridiculous. Just state that I was surprised how much graphic violence it has. I must have been drunk the first time I saw it, because the fight scenes went straight to the garbage bin of my mind at the time.
Anyway, what is so attractive about this is the film's inane dialogue. There is actually a character who says: "I used to "bleep" guys like you in prison" to try and intimidate Swayze's character, Dalton. It's amazing that Swayze could finish that scene with a straight face. The bloopers must be a riot to watch.
There is one more reason why I like this film and that is Jeff Healey. I think this is the only time he ever tried acting and he does a really good job. His southern accent is believable even though he is from Canada and the songs are a nice mix of covers, past songs from the band and of course best of all The Doors cover. One little fault: Jeff Healey normally only played lead guitar in rare instances, but here (because the songs are playback), he is able to both play the rhythm and lead guitar at the same time. I saw him live where he had the ugliest lead guitar player in history and it's a shame that they didn't include somebody to play him because I think he didn't use the same guy in all his concerts. Anyway, it was nice to see his two other regular band members get some shots in the movie.
The score by Michael Kamen is pretty good, but it sounds an awful lot like the score from Lethal Weapon which has been pointed out by Oliver Harper on Retrospective Reviews.
There are however major flaws with the flick that I simply can't overlook. Kelly Lynch is given the most ridiculous character to play and one of her lines comparing Dalton's character to that of the bad guy made me almost faint in disbelief. The bad guy Wesley is nicely played by Ben Gazzara by the way. I am not a huge fan of his and in many of his roles he goes overboard with his method training (the worst performance was his Al Capone), but fortunately he is very low key and has a nice moment where we see that he does have a conscience buried deep inside the character.
I will not mention the director because this is definitely a Joel Silver production if ever there was one. I don't know why he feels that he has to show women who are humiliating themselves and don't get me wrong. I don't object to naked women on screen but there is one character who taunts Dalton and it's the most excruciatingly bad scene to sit through. That scene alone is why I give the film such a low rating.
The ending is very cheesy. Wesley has such a stranglehold on the town that the citizens don't stand up to him. What do they do to make up for that. I won't reveal it but it is one of the more unbelievable parts of the movie, but then the whole thing ain't exactly a documentary to begin with.