On the list of things that nobody asked for , a remaking of the 1989 Patrick Swayze action mechanism movieRoad Housemust grade high . An absurd cinema about a mortal bouncer hired to oversee a dilapidated wayside saloon in Missouri , it ’s know by many not for its narrative brilliance or technical art but for the startlingly bloody moment when Swayze literally rips the pharynx out of one of his onscreen enemy with his bare hands . A movie that has no right take itself as badly as it does , Road Housefeels like a direct product of the action - motion picture - obsessed decade that was the ’ 80s and , therefore , is not something that could be convincingly revamped now .

That is , yet , on the button what has happened , thanks to Amazon MGM Studios , Edge of Tomorrowdirector Doug Liman , and Jake Gyllenhaal . The latter two have delivered a reimagining ofRoad Housethat bank on many of the same constituent as its 1989 predecessor , even while update its story and theatrical role for the innovative day . The result film is a frequently stalwart , bare - knuckle action runaway that is longer and messy than it has any right to be . None of that makes it a bad time . On the reverse , the motion picture is just as brainsick and downright stupid as aRoad Houseremakeshouldbe .

Shortly after con his way into another easy stumblebum of cash , Dalton is near by Frankie ( an underused Jessica Williams ) , the owner of a roadside prevention in the Florida Keys that has lately become the spot of endless , unsustainably damaging fights . Frankie offers Dalton a well - paying lance as the bar ’s bouncer , which he reluctantly accepts only after realizing that he ’s still more committed to his life story than he ’d like to consider . Once he go far at Frankie ’s cake , Dalton speedily find himself at the nub of an unrevealed competition between Frankie and Ben Brandt ( Billy Magnussen ) , the son of a local real estate developer and drug kingpin who want to use her brass ’s prime beachside placement for his own purposes .

Plenty of fights between Dalton and Brandt ’s manpower follow , though not as many as some witness may ask . The film , which boast a 121 - moment runtime , is about 30 minutes longer than it should have been . Despite that , route House‘s 2nd turn repeatedly draw on without enough action to justify its bloated length . That ’s partially because the film spend a tidy sum of metre on Dalton ’s unlikely relationship with Ellie ( The Suicide Squadbreakout star Daniela Melchior ) , a prickly nurse who also happens to be the daughter of a local , corrupted cop ( Joaquim de Almeida ) . The storyline find like a leftover thread from a previous draught of Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry ’s script — one that adds little toRoad Houseand falls flat thanks to Melchior and Gyllenhaal ’s non - existent chemistry .

Dalton and Ellie ’s love story is n’t the only subplot inRoad Housethat tries its audience ’s patience . A clichéd friendship between Gyllenhaal ’s violent drifter and Charlie ( Hannah Lanier ) and Stephen ( Kevin Carroll ) , a sire and daughter that run a bookstore not far from Frankie ’s bar , is so thinly sketch that its determination is bafflingly unreadable right up until the moment when — to the credit of Bagarozzi , Mondry , and Liman — it ’s not . Most of Dalton ’s scenes with Charlie and Stephen still land with little impact , and that ’s due in no low part to the atrocious point of ADR that were audibly done to patch up several of their conversations .

There ’s a oecumenical mussiness toRoad Housethat is frustrative to manage with . Williams ’ Frankie function an important role in the film ’s plot , yet she ’s oftentimes absent from it because it ’s too engaged explore Dalton ’s local adventures , most of which only find tangentially related to his Book of Job at her stripe . Her absence seizure hurt the film and leaves Williams with little to do . Magnussen , conversely , stands out as a worthy foil to Frankie and Dalton . The actor bring a rich - kid haughtiness to his performance that works particular wonders during a bar riposte conversation in which he poke Gyllenhaal ’s Dalton for no reason other than to satiate his rarity .

It ’s in the end Gyllenhaal who anchorsRoad House , though . The actor is utterly commanding as Dalton , a nice - bozo brawler prostrate to apologizing to his dupe even as he ’s breaking their bones . He give a carrying into action here that feel like an endearingly odd crossbreeding between his hauntingly vacant turn as Lou Bloom in 2014’sNightcrawlerand his raw , guiltiness - ridden body of work as Billy Hope in 2015’sSouthpaw . He manages to be a fascinating parry to whoever he appears paired inRoad House , whether he ’s sharing the screen with supporting performing artist like J. D. Pardo , Arturo Castro , or Beau Knapp , all of whom give memorably wretched performance as three of Brandt ’s tough , or Conor McGregor , who draw his plastic film acting unveiling with an atrociously one - note , oversize twist as a maniacal collaborator hired by Magnussen ’s character ’s offscreen male parent to serve his boy .

Gyllenhaal ’s sure-footed , often darkly funny lead functioning stopsRoad Housefrom ever devolve into pure slop , as does Liman ’s dependably muscular , suitably heightened direction . The film director does n’t get enough chances to extend his natural action filmmaking muscles onscreen , but when he does , he create clenched fist fights , boat Salmon Portland Chase , and explosive confrontations that ride the line between cartoonish and severely - hit . The same is mostly true ofRoad Houseitself , which does n’t feel nearly as dressed as it should but still emerge as an entertaining bit of IP reimagining . It ’s far from a sweetheart punch , but it ’s the kind of perfectly fine legal action movie you ’d once spend part of a Saturday or Sunday afternoon watching on cable without any regrets or guilt feelings . In that sense , it may have even more in common with the originalRoad Housethan its filmmakers realize .

Road Housepremieres Thursday , March 21 onAmazon Prime Video .