Jake Gyllenhaal Puts On His Best Patrick Swayze In The Road House Trailer
Until this year, "Road House" was one of a handful of '80s action classics that hadn't gotten the reboot treatment, but a new movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal is about to change that. "Road House" 2.0 hits Prime Video in March, but fans can get a taste of the new movie's action now thanks to its just-released first trailer. Can Gyllenhaal match Patrick Swayze's sense of swagger, or will he blaze his own trail as a different version of the cool and collected bouncer who made the original an unlikely hit?
It's hard to tell from this initial two and a half minute first look whether or not this reboot will justify its own existence, but at first blush, the movie certainly seems to have a lot going for it. "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" director Doug Liman is behind the camera here for the first time since 2021's "Chaos Walking" (though he also worked on the delightful Netflix spy show "The Recruit" in the meantime), and this sneak peek shows off his abundant sense of style and rhythm as an action filmmaker. Like pretty much every Gyllenhaal character, the bruised and battered protagonist of "Road House" comes across as a bit of a wild card, but he's also a believable — if begrudging — hero.
Less cheese, more action
"Road House" 2024 seems to have a sense of humor about it, which is certainly a good thing for a remake of a movie whose most talked-about legacy decades after its release is probably a "Family Guy" joke about it. It's tough to tell if "Road House" is trying to be funny, or if it just has a whole lot of funny people in it, but either way, it's bolstered by the presence of Billy Magnussen ("Game Night," "Made For Love"), Jessica Williams ("2 Dope Queens," "Shrinking"), Arturo Castro ("Broad City," "Weird"), and Lukas Gage ("The White Lotus," "You"). Other supporting cast members including "Never Have I Ever" leading man Darren Barnet, "Mayans M.C." star J.D. Pardo, UFC champion Conor McGregor, and "Fast X" actress Daniela Melchior.
The new "Road House" is clearly detouring from the original in a few key ways, giving its hero (who's named Elwood Dalton, as opposed to Swayze's James Dalton) a UFC past of his own and moving the setting of the rough road house where he takes a gig from Missouri to the Florida Keys. "Lately, it's been attracting the wrong clientele," Williams' character says, offering to pay the ex-fighter handsomely for keeping crooks and a-holes away from her bar. It's a job Elwood is apparently good at, as Castro's character says he acts like Mr. Rogers before "he beats the living s*** out of you." It sounds like an action recipe that just might work.
"Road House" debuts on Prime Video beginning March 21, 2024. The movie will make its premiere at South By Southwest two weeks earlier, though Liman told Deadline he's boycotting the premiere due to Amazon MGM's choice to forgo a theatrical release for the movie.