Road House Information

Road House is a 1989 action film 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 Elliott also plays a bouncer, the mentor, friend and foil of 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. He attracts attention driving his Mercedes Benz SEC560 and having a quiet demeanor"?contrasting with the tough locals. Dalton is soon introduced to local business magnate (and next door neighbor) Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara). Wesley appears to have a stranglehold 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 physically remove Wesley's henchmen from the club, he suffers a knife wound. 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 Elliott), arrives in town after a disconcerting phone call from Dalton and helps him defend a liquor shipment from Wesley's thugs.

That evening, local business owner Red Webster's (Red West) auto parts 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 also 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 attempts to persuade him to leave. However, their conversation is interrupted by a powerful explosion. Dalton rescues Emmett from the blaze before the house is completely destroyed. He then witnesses one of Wesley's henchmen, Jimmy (Marshall Teague), fleeing the scene, and manages to intercept him. After a vicious fight, Dalton kills Jimmy by ripping out his throat with his bare hand. The next morning, Dalton receives an ominous phone call from Wesley, who vows to have either Wade or Doc killed. At that moment, Wade staggers into the Double Deuce, badly beaten but alive. Believing Doc to be in danger, Dalton races to the hospital, but she refuses to leave with him, repulsed by his increasingly violent nature. Upon returning to the Double Deuce, Dalton finds Wade sprawled out on the bar with a knife lodged in his chest. Fighting back tears, an enraged Dalton pulls the knife free and jumps into his car, determined to settle the score with Wesley.

Dalton's Mercedes speeds recklessly toward 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. Dalton gains the upper hand in their fight and prepares to finish Wesley in the same brutal manner as Jimmy, but decides against it. When Dalton releases him, Wesley seizes the opportunity to reach for a gun, but is promptly shot to death by Red, Emmett, Stroudenmire, and Tilghman. They stash the weapons away prior to the arrival of law enforcement and proceed to corroborate each others' innocence, 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
• Sunshine Parker as Emmet (as 'Sunshine' Parker)
• Marshall Teague as Jimmy
• John Doe as Pat McGurn
• Kathleen Wilhoite as Carrie
• Terry Funk as Morgan
• Julie Michaels as Denise
• Jeff Healey as Cody
• Anthony De Longis as Gary Ketchum
• Travis McKenna as Jack

Production

Filming locations

The Double Deuce scenes were filmed in Newhall, California. The bar was constructed for the movie and dismantled once filming was completed. The filming of much of the "New Double Deuce" was done at the Cowboy (went by other names as well until it closed) located at 1721 S Manchester Ave in Anaheim, California, USA. 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. It is frequently shown on television.

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. Patrick Swayze also wrote 1 song and sang two for the soundtrack. The film's score was composed by Michael Kamen.

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 from Dalton's medical chart that he carries with him). 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. Michael J. Nelson, formerly of Mystery Science Theater 3000, later got to riff on the film via RiffTrax, with several lines from the movie becoming running jokes in later riffs and across their website.

In the TV show Psych, season two episode Bounty Hunters! when Shawn Spencer(James Roday) and Burton 'Gus' Guster (Dule Hill) walk in to Bar 13 to find Dwayne Tancana Shawn says to Gus: Just pretend like we're in Road House.

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 Parks and Recreation episode The Debate, character Andy Dwyer re-enacts scenes from Road House to "entertain" guests at a fundraising event.

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.

In Multiple South Park Episodes, you can see a Road House poster on Stan's bedroom wall.

In multiple Family Guy episodes, Peter can end up kicking someone or something, then looking towards the camera saying dramatically "Road House"

Ron White makes a reference to Road House in his "Tater Salad" stand-up comedy routine.