Road House (1989 film)

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Road House
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Rowdy Herrington
Produced by	Joel Silver
Written by	Story: David Lee Henry Screenplay: David Lee Henry Hilary Henkin
Starring	Patrick Swayze Kelly Lynch Sam Elliott Ben Gazzara Kevin Tighe Red West Kathleen Wilhoite Sunshine Parker Tito Larriva Marshall R. Teague Terry Funk
Music by	Michael Kamen Willie Nile (co-composer)
Cinematography	Dean Cundey
Editing by	John F. Link Frank J. Urioste
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	May 19, 1989
Running time	114 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue	$30,050,028 (USA)
Followed by	Road House 2: Last Call

Road House is a 1989 action film directed by Rowdy Herrington and starring Patrick Swayze as a bouncer at a seedy roadside bar who protects a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Box office 3 Soundtrack 4 Story Source 5 Cultural impact 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] Plot summary

This article may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it now.  (April 2009)

James Dalton (Swayze) is a professional "cooler" (i.e. head bouncer) with a mysterious past who is enticed from his current job in Los Angeles by club owner Frank Tilghman (Kevin Tighe) to work at his club, The Double Deuce, in Jasper, Missouri. With a philosophy degree from New York University and a preference for peacefully resolving confrontation, Dalton seems the antithesis of the nightclub bouncer.

Upon arriving in Jasper, Dalton anticipates his popularity among some of the local townsfolk and buys a battered old 1965 Buick Riviera, filling the trunk with spare tires. These come in handy when local thugs repeatedly slash the tires and vandalize the car. He takes lodging at a local farm. The farmer and his new tenant become acquainted and they introduce themselves to each other as "Emmett" and "Dalton". The occasion is also Dalton's indirect introduction to local business magnate (and next door neighbor) Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara), who consistently irritates Emmett by deliberately flying low over Emmett's farm with his helicopter.

In the course of cleaning up the violent nightclub, Dalton dismisses several unruly and corrupt employees, including Pat McGurn (John Doe), the bartender and Wesley's nephew, and Morgan (Terry Funk), a surly bouncer whose domineering personality causes more trouble than it solves.

After a scrape with Wesley's henchmen for refusing to re-hire Pat (caught stealing earlier), a visibly injured Dalton admits himself to the hospital, medical file in hand, where he meets and is treated by Dr. Elizabeth Clay (Kelly Lynch). The doctor and Dalton strike up a friendship which eventually blossoms into a intimate relationship. Unknown to Dalton at this point, Clay turns out to be Wesley's ex-wife.

Wesley invites Dalton to his home in a seemingly innocent attempt to make peace, but he has an ulterior motive: Wesley would like Dalton to work for him once he extorts Tilghman's club. When Dalton declines, Wesley begins an assault on Dalton's friends, including interferring with liquor deliveries to the Double Deuce. Dalton's mentor, aging but legendary cooler Wade Garrett (Sam Elliott), arrives in town after a disconcerting phone call from Dalton and helps him defend a liquor shipment from Wesley's thugs. Garrett's reputation precedes him, for he is treated with reverence by his fellow bouncers and sticks around to support Dalton.

That evening, local business owner and Elizabeth's uncle Red Webster's (Red West) store, is destroyed by a coincidental fire after he refuses to give ground to Wesley's persistent extortion demands. Dalton, not wanting to exacerbate matters, allows Wesley and his men entrance to the club that night, along with their regular customers. Wesley coaxes his girlfriend, Denise, to perform a strip-tease while bandstand player Cody (Jeff Healey) plays a cover of Muddy Waters' "Hoochie Coochie Man." Unimpressed, Dalton calmly but firmly removes Denise from the stage and chides Wesley for her behavior, to the dismay of the cheering patrons. In retaliation, Wesley calls for his right-hand man, Jimmy (Marshall Teague), a proficient martial artist and former convict. Jimmy instigates a fight, systematically disabling the bouncers one by one with a pool cue while Wesley's henchmen engage Dalton and Wade. Jimmy then turns his attention to Wade. Despite Wade's hand-to-hand combat prowess (it is later revealed that he trained Dalton), Jimmy gets the upper hand until Dalton intervenes, and the two have a brief but heated skirmish before Wesley calls a halt to the mêlée.

The next day, car dealership owner Pete Stroudenmire becomes Wesley's next victim when he too rebuffs Wesley. As a result, Wesley has one of his thugs, Gary Ketchum (Anthony De Longis), demolish the structure with his monster truck as Dalton and his friends look on with contempt. After the incident, Garrett tries to convince Dalton to consider the possible consequences of involving himself in the town's affairs and leave Jasper. However, Dalton is determined to stay. Their interaction reveals that Dalton considers Wade his most trusted confident.

That night, Doc visits Dalton and also attempts to persuade him to leave; however, their conversation is interrupted by a massive explosion; Emmett's home has been fired bombed. Dalton manages to rescue Emmett from the blaze before the house is completely destroyed. Relieved that Emmett has not been injured, Dalton overhears the engine of a dirt bike in the distance and observes Jimmy, who stops to laughs at the carnage, fleeing the scene. Dalton, furious and obviously having had enough of Wesley's strong-armed tactics, chases and leaps at Jimmy, knocking him from the bike. As the fight ensues, Dalton eventually manages to gain an upper hand, prompting Jimmy to pull a concealed pistol. Dalton deflects the pistol and kills Jimmy by tearing out his throat with his bare hand (an earlier implied maneuver he used years ago to defend himself). Jimmy immediately dies from the wound, and Elizabeth leaves, horrified by what she has just witnessed.

Returning to the club the next day, Dalton receives an ominous call from Wesley, seeking revenge for Jimmy's death. Wesley presents Dalton with an shocking ultimatum: he must decide whether Wade or Elizabeth will be killed. Wesley ultimately decides by the flip of coin but does not reveal the outcome. Suddenly, Wade stumbles into the building, severely beaten. After Dalton helps him to the bar. Dalton makes the unknowingly fatal mistake of leaving Wade unattended while he tries to convince Elizabeth to leave town with him and his friend. Elizabeth, still repulsed by Dalton's actions the night before, adamantly refuses. Finally realizing he has no other recourse, Dalton returns to the Deuce to meet up with Wade and leave town. He soon discovers Wade has been brutally murdered. Pinned to the body, by way of a dagger, is a note reading "It was Tails." Wrought with grief, an enraged Dalton infiltrates Wesley's estate, where he overcomes Wesley's men. Ketchum, revealed to be Wade's killer, is killed by Dalton in the same manner as was Wade, and ironically retorts with the words "Tails again."

Dalton eventually comes face-to-face with Wesley, and the two battle until Dalton restrains Wesley on a couch. Staring down at Wesley with his hand poised to rip Wesley's throat, he relects about the error of his past violent ways; he turns his back, giving Wesley the opportunity to reach for a nearby gun. Clay arrives just in time to watch as the men Wesley has persecuted over the years, Red, Emmett, Stroudenmire, and even Tighlman, come to Dalton's defense and shoot Wesley dead. They stash the weapons prior to the arrival of local law enforcement and proceed to corroborate each other's innocence: "I didn't see nothin'. You see anythin'?" When asked if he saw anything, a dazed Tinker, the sole survivor of Wesley's men, sheepishly states "a polar bear fell on me", inducing stifled laughter all around. The movie then concludes with a shot of Dalton jumping into a local swimming hole to share a romantic skinny-dip with Doc Clay.

[edit] Box office

Road House's total domestic gross was US$30,050,028.

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Road House featured the late Canadian guitarist Jeff Healey, whose band was featured in the film as the house band for the Double Deuce. The film's score was composed by Michael Kamen.

[edit] Story Source

The storyline of Road House derives in part from the 1953 Western Shane, with which it shares many similarities (mysterious stranger arrives from out of town, attempts to limit violence, refuses to work for the other side, ultimately wins a climactic fight freeing the townspeople).^[1] Also, Ben Gazzara's Brad Wesley character bears a strong similarity to Ken McElroy, subject of the book In Broad Daylight.

[edit] Cultural impact

A sequel, Road House 2: Last Call, was released directly to DVD in July 2006. Set many years later and telling the story of Dalton's adult son, it featured no one from the original cast and only a few references to Dalton (who was reportedly shot dead before the movie took place). At the same time Road House 2 was released, the original film was reissued in a deluxe edition featuring, among other features, separate audio commentary tracks by director Rowdy Herrington, Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, which the duo had expressed an interest in during the introduction of the tenth anniversary Clerks DVD.^[2]

In 2003 an off-Broadway musical production of Road House was staged as a campy comedy by Timothy Haskell, as seen by its full title of Road House: The Stage Version Of The Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze, Except This One Stars Taimak From The 80’s Cult Classic “The Last Dragon” Wearing A Blonde Mullet Wig.^[3][4]

Road House has been parodied by Michael J. Nelson as the inaugural track for Nelson's Rifftrax commentary service.^[5] In his book Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese, Nelson ironically declares Road House "the single finest American film."

On Mystery Science Theater 3000 (for which Michael J. Nelson was head writer), Road House was frequently cited as a favorite film of the characters. In Episode 321, the film is referenced when Joel Robinson and the Bots sing the song "Let's Have a Patrick Swayze Christmas." Swayze reportedly found the tribute quite amusing.^[6]

In 2004, WFMU DJ and Monk writer/producer Tom Scharpling performed a live, one-man performance of the entire film on his radio program, The Best Show on WFMU^[7]. Listeners were encouraged to buy or rent the Road House DVD, and play the movie with the sound off in synchronization with Scharpling's live radio performance. The performance contained many humorous re-interpretations of the script, such as continually referring to Brad Wesley by Gazzara's actual name, as well as the substitution of the film's original soundtrack with music from '80s synth-pop band Bronski Beat, Pavement, The Alarm, The Smiths, Wilco, Nena, Let's Active, The Misfits, Belle and Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand and the '90s Canadian pop-punk band, Cub.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Road House

• Road House at the Internet Movie Database
• Road House at Allmovie
• Road House at Rotten Tomatoes
• Road House at Box Office Mojo