Cult Clash: Road House (1989)

by Pete Roberts

One of the most highly rewatchable films from the late 1980's is Rowdy Herrington's Good Ol' Boy film RoadHouse. I remember seeing the preview for this film back at my first theatrical viewing of Tim Burton's Batman, and I wasn't too impressed at the time, since I had been tired with Swayze from the smash hit Dirty Dancing (1987). The trailer did have a few laughs, especially Swayze's "Be Nice" monologue which was intercut with the action scenes.

Many people may think this film is a piece of crap in the big scheme of cinema, but to me it's an entertaining genre film that I've watched numerous times and can't seem to grow tired of. In my book, when there's a film you can watch over and over again, it should be considered a good film. Some may call this one a guilty pleasure, but hey, I dig it.

RoadHouse tells the story of a cooler (head bar bouncer) named James Dalton (Patrick Swayze - referred to as "Dalton" in the film) who we meet at the beginning of the story working at a club in what looks to be New York City. Enter Frank Tilghman (Kevin Tighe) - a bar owner from Jasper, Missouri who has recently come into a large sum of money and wants to redesign his club, "The Double Deuce", into a more respectable place. His first choice for the cooler is Dalton, who seems to be something of a legend to the people in the bar business. Tighlman meets Dalton right after a small bar fight in which Dalton gets cut on the arm by a drunk patron who thought he could kick his ass. Right from the start we see that, to Dalton, this job is just business and not personal. Tighlman offers him a large sum of money to work for him, which he agrees to, but on only one condition: he runs the show and when the job's finished he walks. Tighlman happily agrees and Dalton quits his NYC job and heads to Jasper.

When Dalton arrives in town, we can see that the Double Deuce is a true roadhouse bar. It looks like a slaughterhouse from the outside and when Dalton finally lays eyes on the inside, we that the place is as hillbilly as you can get, complete with chickenwire around the stage. Everyone in there is either looking for trouble, fighting or drunk off their ass. The one thing that lightens Dalton's mood is when he hears the music coming from the stage. It's his old friend Cody (Jeff Healey) a good guy and great singer of Blues and Classic Rock. He's also blind, but he doesn't let that stop him. While Dalton takes in the goings on, he meets Carrie Anne (Kathleen Wilhoite), a slightly goofy waitress who asks Dalton who he is. It takes effort, but when she finds out she lets him know that she's heard of him. A sexy blonde named Denise (Julie Michaels) also spots Dalton and hits on him throughout the film, but he's not interested in cheap women of her sort.

Jasper is run with an iron fist by one man: Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara). Wesley is downright evil. This guy does whatever he wants and if anyone gets in his way, they either dissapear or get beat down so hard they don't do it again. Gazzara is perfect in the role - he has that smile that just says "I love being bad". Watch for one particular scene where Wesley is driving down the street singing a Frank Sinatra tune.

After Dalton takes a look around at the mess known as The Double Deuce, he begins looking for a new car and finds a nice old Mustang with really cool headlights that open and close. Then he goes to an old farm on the river where he meets Emmett "Sunshine" Parker, a white-haired good ol boy farmer that offers Dalton a nice apartment placed conveniently over his horse barn. Dalton takes the place and moves in and we can see he's right at home as if he's lived there for years. What Dalton doesn't know is that Brad Wesley's mansion is located directly across the river - bad news if you're an honest bar bouncer in a corrupt town.

Dalton takes a trip down to the local auto parts store where he meets Red Webster (Red West of Elvis Presley's Memphis Mafia). Red is an honest man, but since he lives in Jasper every week, Brad Wesley sends his goons in to wreck his store and take his money. Dalton sees it as stealing, but Wesley calls it a private donation to the "Jasper Improvement Society". Just another way of ripping off the town that Wesley thinks he owns completely.

Dalton gets things straight to the people who work at The Double Deuce. He lets them know he'll be running things his way and his way only. Now, this speech reminded me of a speech from another film hat came out a few years after RoadHouse. That film is Reservoir Dogs. I couldn't help but wonder if Tarantino was influenced by this scene for his Joe Cabot speech where he gives the Dogs their color names.

Dalton lays down the law of the new Double Deuce and has to kick a few people out so things run as smoothly as possible. One night he notices the bartender, Pat McGurn (the punk band X's John Doe) skimming money and going through too much liquor, so he kicks him out. Dalton doesn't know at the time, but Pat is Wesley's nephew. The next night Pat comes back with Wesley's goons and challenges Dalton to a fight - the place erupts as Dalton and the other bouncers trash Wesley's goon squad.

Dalton finds a love interest with a doctor who sews up his wound from the fight. Her name is Elizabeth Clay (Kelly Lynch), and it turns out that she's Red's neice. They start a relationship, but as bad luck would have it, Elizabeth is the ex-girlfriend of Brad Wesley, which makes Dalton even more of a prime target of Wesley's wrath. While having to fend off the bad element that enter the Double Deuce, Dalton has to contend with Wesley's thugs, who start to cause enormous trouble for their plan to clean the place completely.

What does RoadHouse have that makes it so entertaining and rewatchable? It's the tight direction and pacing, and it's the colorful down-home characters and the simplicity of the story. Sometimes movies become so complex and misdirected that they lose their appeal far too quickly. On the surface, RoadHouse could be mistaken for another average 80s action yarn, but it's a film filled with humor, tender moments and strong-hearted characters that seem to help one another when the chips are down. The movie has something special that will attract your attention again and again.

After watching this film as many times as I have, I've realized that Patrick Swayze's performance was definitely inspired by Bruce Lee. Swayze almost seems to be channeling Lee's aura throughout the film. He even performs daily rituals of Tai Chi. Dalton states to Elizabeth that he majored in Philosophy in college. Interestingly enough, Bruce Lee was a Philosophy major as well.

While in Jasper, Dalton oftens keeps in contact with his bar bouncing mentor Wade Garrett (Sam Elliot). Wade is part cowboy - part biker, and we can see that his history with Dalton goes back several years. Wade is the only family Dalton seems to have. Wade often calls him "Mijo" a Mexican word which means "Son" or "Student".

Cult film fans may recognize the band playing in the opening scenes from Director Robert Rodriguez's 1997 horror comedy From Dusk Till Dawn. That's right, it's Tito Larriva! As the opening credits roll, Tito sings "Dont Throw Stones (You Dont Own)". A great rockin tune.

The bulk of the film's score is by Jeff Healey, an artist who was gaining some popularity back when the film was released. Since then he seems to have sunken into obscurity. As you can see in the film, Jeff is blind, but he has a great voice and adds a nice background soundtrack to the film. Healey covers a bunch of classic rock tunes including "Roadhouse Blues" (The Doors), "Traveling Band" (Creedence Clearwater Revival) and more.