‘Road House’ review round-up: Jake Gyllenhaal’s ‘smile teases, his body indulges’ in ‘primal, bruising, ludicrous’ fun

After its premiere at South by Southwest on March 8, 2024, “Road House” began streaming on Prime Video March 21 via Amazon MGM Studios. The reimagining of the 1989 film starring Patrick Swayze stars Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal as Dalton, an ex-UFC fighter who takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems.

The film directed by Doug Liman (“Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “Edge of Tomorrow”) was written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry. Reviews of the film have been mixed, but it currently holds fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 68%. The critics consensus reads, “Road House updates a cult classic for a new generation, happily replicating the original’s emphasis on cheesy brawn over narrative brains.” Supporting players in the movie include Conor McGregor, Daniela Melchior, Billy Magnussen and Jessica Williams. Read our full review round-up below. 

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Adrian Horton of Guardian praises the film, stating, “You come to the Road House for a good time and some knuckle-cracking fights, and on that front, this film delivers, owing to some truly impressive stunt work, a fully convincing performance from Gyllenhaal in Southpaw form, and a crackling screen debut from UFC champ-cum-entertainer Conor McGregor. The Road House bar may be pretty small-time – in fact, some of the film’s enjoyment derives from just how small-town and petty this world is – but the fight sequences are operating on a big, bold, reality-stretching canvas. Big as in crocodile fights big, full cast bar – brawl big, knockout death match between Dalton and McGregor’s cocky (and occasionally bare-assed) hitman big. It’s primal, bruising, ludicrous and very fun.”

Lovia Gyarkye of Hollywood Reporter says, “Gyllenhaal’s performance starts in the shadow of Swayze’s — Dalton’s signature smirk and laconic posture are all here — before evolving into something more complicated. In the actor’s interpretation, the smile is a parallel narrative of Dalton’s emotions. It can be a smug gesture, a hint at greater knowledge or a warning of violence to come.” Concluding, “Where Gyllenhaal’s smile teases, his body indulges. The fight scenes in Liman’s Road House are just as bloody and ridiculous as those in Herrington’s.”

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Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com writes, “Jake Gyllenhaal delivers a fun performance that goes from charming to menacing, but even that gets lost in the chaos of a movie that needed to be sweaty, grounded, and urgent to work but becomes more and more like something you’d watch on Saturday morning” Adding, “And then there’s Conor McGregor as Knox, a sociopath who launches like out of a cannon into the back half of the movie to finish the job with Dalton. Knox brings a spark to a movie that’s getting dry, but McGregor’s performance is equally fascinating and baffling, delivered almost entirely through a massive grin like he’s doing a bit at a weigh-in before a match. He struts and smiles like an aggro Popeye, and it feels like Liman told him to go over the top and so McGregor shot to the moon.”

Owen Gleiberman of Variety notes, “’Road House’ is an infectiously stylish piece of slumming.” Continuing, “The action in ‘Road House’ is beyond brutal; at moments, it’s vicious. Yet if the movie is far more violent than your average action film, in its slightly crackpot bare-knuckle way it’s also more humane. Liman stages the pulp for maximum realism (he wants you to believe what you’re seeing), and Jake Gyllenhaal, as a fallen Ultimate Fighting Championship brawler who gets hired to clean up a road house in Glass Key, Florida, gives a true performance. In ‘Road House,’ Liman and Gyllenhaal bring the pain, but they also make you feel it.”

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