Road House

Watch and compare these two trailers. One stars the immortal Patrick Swayze while the modern remake puts Jake Gyllenhal as our hero Dalton. One is a classic that I have seen a dozen times on cable and the remake is without any reason to see twice. I regret I watch the new remake even once and it appears that my opinion is correct, Rotten Tomatoes graded the film at 63 percent by critics and 54 percent by audiences. Those kind of numbers makes me suspect that the critics have lost their abilities to judge a good film from a bad one.

The first ROAD HOUSE had charisma and class and actually had Dalton help other people with charm and brutal violence when necessary.  He only fought when pushed past the point of no return. The remake is totally empty of story and a soul. 

There are no motivation for Dalton to fight in the sequel because the stakes are too low. No one asked him to fight for them. Is he a bodyguard? Does he fight with a sense of honor or is he useless to everyone he encounters in the future? Is there even a love story? No, there is not. The remake is only interested is seeing who can punch the hardest.

The remake just sits there until the need to fight occurs and those beatings would kill either man involved but both remain on their feet for over 15 minutes. Boats crash and still no one is killed. I found that boring and unbelievable. There was just no reason to make the film in the first place because who cares? I know I didn't.

My friend Susan said muscles and fighting made the film enjoyable for her. I just needed a little bit more than that. Watch at your peril especially if you loved the original film like I did.