Road House (1989 film)

Road House
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rowdy Herrington
Produced by	Joel Silver
Written by	David Lee Henry Hilary Henkin
Starring	Patrick Swayze Kelly Lynch Sam Elliott Ben Gazzara
Music by	Michael Kamen Willie Nile
Cinematography	Dean Cundey
Editing by	John F. Link Frank J. Urioste
Studio	Silver Pictures
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	May 19, 1989 (1989-05-19)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Portuguese
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$30,050,028

Road House is a 1989 action film partially based on the life of Norman "Storm" Cantwell, directed by Rowdy Herrington and starring Patrick Swayze as a bouncer at a newly-refurbished roadside bar who protects a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman. Sam Elliot also plays a bouncer, the friend of and foil to Swayze's character. The cast also includes Kelly Lynch as Swayze's love interest, and Ben Gazzara as the main antagonist.

Plot

James Dalton (Patrick Swayze) is a professional "cooler" (i.e. specialized doorman, or bouncer) with a mysterious past who is enticed from his current job in New York City by club owner Frank Tilghman (Kevin Tighe) to take over security at his club/bar, the Double Deuce, in Jasper, Missouri. Tilghman plans to invest substantial money into the club, to enhance its image, and needs a first-rate cooler to maintain stability. Arriving in Jasper, and searching for a place to stay, Dalton eventually takes lodging at a local farm. Dalton is soon introduced to local business magnate (and next door neighbor) Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara). Wesley appears to have a strangle hold on the town, and little happens without his knowledge and approval. In the course of cleaning up the violent nightclub, Dalton dismisses several unruly and corrupt employees, some of whom are connected with Wesley. After one particularly violent night where Dalton is forced to use physical contact to force some of Wesley's henchmen out of the club, he gets his side slashed. Upon going to the hospital for stitches, he strikes up a friendship with Dr. Elizabeth "Doc" Clay (Kelly Lynch) which leads into a romantic relationship.

Wesley summons Dalton to his home in a seemingly innocent attempt to make peace, but 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 interfering with liquor deliveries to the Double Deuce. Dalton's mentor, legendary but aging cooler Wade Garrett (Sam Elliot), arrives in town after a disconcerting phone call from Dalton and helps him defend a liquor shipment from Wesley's thugs.

That evening, local automotive parts and supplies business owner (Doc's uncle) Red Webster's (Red West) store is destroyed by a 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. 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, demolish the structure with his monster truck (BIGFOOT #7) as Dalton and his friends look on with contempt. That night, Doc visits Dalton and also attempts to persuade him to leave. However, their conversation is interrupted by a massive explosion. Dalton rescues Emmett from the blaze before the house is completely destroyed. One of Wesley's henchmen, Jimmy (Marshall Teague), is responsible, and confronts Dalton in vicious hand-to-hand combat, which Dalton wins when he eventually kills Jimmy by ripping out his throat with his bare hand, which is witnessed by "Doc". Wesley soon realizes that he must escalate the stakes and either run Dalton out of town, or kill him. Dalton comes to realize that the violence needed to defeat Wesley is futile, and decides to leave with Wade. However, events take a tragic turn when Wesley orders Wade's death; Dalton discovers the body of his friend on the bar in the Double Deuce, a knife impaled in his chest, with a note from Wesley addressed to Dalton. Having reached his limit, Dalton jumps into his car, and drives headlong toward Wesley's estate for a final confrontation.

Dalton crashes his car onto Wesley's estate, drawing gunfire from Wesley's henchmen, but they discover the car empty, and the knife that was used to kill Wade stuck in the accelerator. One by one, Dalton dispatches each of Wesley's thugs, and eventually comes face-to-face with Wesley, and the two battle until Dalton restrains Wesley. Staring down at Wesley with his hand poised to rip Wesley's throat, he reflects about the error of his past violent ways. As he turns to walk away, Wesley seizes the opportunity to reach for a nearby gun. Clay arrives just in time to witness the men Wesley has bullied and extorted over the years, Red, Emmett, Stroudenmire and Tilghman, come to Dalton's defense and shoots Wesley three times, with Tilghman stating that "this is OUR town, and don't YOU forget it" and making the kill shot on Wesley. They stash the weapons prior to the arrival of local law enforcement and proceed to corroborate each others' innocence: "I didn't see nothin'. You see anythin'?" When asked if he saw anything, a dazed Tinker, eying a statue of three monkeys (hear, speak, see no evil), sheepishly states "a polar bear fell on me", inducing stifled laughter. Each of the characters chuckle, with the implication that what happened in Wesley's house will remain a secret.

Cast

• Patrick Swayze as James Dalton
• Kelly Lynch as Dr. Elizabeth "Doc" Clay
• Sam Elliott as Wade Garrett
• Ben Gazzara as Brad Wesley
• Kevin Tighe as Frank Tilghman
• Red West as Red Webster
• Marshall Teague as Jimmy

Production

Filming locations

The Double Deuce scenes were filmed in Newhall, Ca. The bar was constructed for the movie and dismantled once filming was completed.

Scenes involving Brad Wesley's house and the house in which Dalton rents a room were filmed outside of Sanger, California. The Kings River (California) runs between the two residences.

Reception

The film had a mixed reception with critics, earning a 44% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Negative reviews such as one published by Variety is critical of "a flat romantic attachment" between Dalton and Clay while lobbying criticism since its "vigilante justice, lawlessness and wanton violence feel ludicrous in a modern setting." Other reviews are critical of Swayze's role as Dalton. Roger Ebert gave the movie 2 1/2 stars and commented that "'Road House' exists right on the edge between the "good-bad movie" and the merely bad. I hesitate to recommend it, because so much depends on the ironic vision of the viewer. This is not a good movie. But viewed in the right frame of mind, it is not a boring one, either."

Road House was nominated for (but did not win) five Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Patrick Swayze), Worst Supporting Actor (Ben Gazzara), Worst Director and Worst Screenplay.

Box office

Although the film was not a major box office success, it did quite well on home video. Over time, the movie has garnered a cult following.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Road House featured the Canadian guitarist Jeff Healey, whose band was featured in the film as the house band for the Double Deuce. Cruzados were the band in the opening credits, contributing three songs to the film that never made the soundtrack. The film's score was composed by Michael Kamen.

Road House soundtrack album
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"Roadhouse Blues"	Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, John Densmore, Ray Manzarek	The Jeff Healey Band	4:51
2.	"Blue Monday"	Dave Bartholomew, Antoine "Fats" Domino	Bob Seger	2:22
3.	"I'm Tore Down"	Sonny Thompson	The Jeff Healey Band	4:26
4.	"These Arms of Mine"	Otis Redding	Otis Redding	2:31
5.	"When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky"	Bob Dylan	The Jeff Healey Band	4:54
6.	"Rad Gumbo"	Bill Payne, Paul Barrere, Martin Kibbee, Sam Clayton, Kenny Gradney	Little Feat	3:30
7.	"Raising Heaven (In Hell Tonight)"	Willie Nile, Martin Briley	Patrick Swayze	4:41
8.	"A Good Heart"	Maria McKee	Kris McKay	4:59
9.	"(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man"	Willie Dixon	The Jeff Healey Band	5:14
10.	"Cliff's Edge"	Patrick Swayze, Stacy Widelitz, Bob Marlette	Patrick Swayze	4:01
Total length:				41:34

Cultural impact

Sequel

A sequel, 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 film took place). The sequel revealed that Dalton's first name was James which was not mentioned in the original film(the name is mentioned in the hospital - Dalton historical medical book). 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.

Musical

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

In popular culture

On the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, Road House was frequently cited as a favorite film of the characters, especially Crow T. Robot. 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.

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. 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.

Road House is established as the favorite film of the protagonists of the Adult Swim program Squidbillies in an episode entitled "Swayze Crazy".

In the Family Guy episode "Brian's Got a Brand New Bag", Peter becomes fixated on using a roundhouse kick to solve everyday problems (even steering his car) followed by saying "Road House" after watching the film. This joke is followed up in the episode "Business Guy", which features Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House.

Professional Wrestlers Terry Funk and C.T. Night "The Boss" appeared in the film.

"Road House" is a nickname for Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Andy Dalton who shares his last name with the main character of the film.

External links

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