Jake Gyllenhaal knows that the Road House remake presented “big shoes to fill,” meaning that no one will ever replace the late Patrick Swayze. He’s still giving it his Best Ripped Effort, and surely, Andy Dwyer will be somewhere watching to see if that throat rip happens. Somehow, I doubt that will be on the 2024 plan (not to mention a scene like the one that gave an ornery Bill Murray fuel for many years), but you never know. This remake is, after all, initially streaming on Amazon Prime — which is one of the hottest destinations for impossibly ripped leading men — rather than heading to theaters.
Gyllenhaal’s Dalton is a former UFC Fighter (Conor McGregor has a role in the film, too) who finds that the Florida Keys are oddly full of overly aggressive people, who he must punch the living daylights out of as a bouncer. This includes J.D. Pardo, apparently fresh off putting Mayans M.C. to rest, which is an interesting little “Degrees of Kurt Sutter” game that viewers can play, given that Gyllenhaal previously hopped in the ring for Southpaw, written by Sutter and directed by Antoine Fuqua.
Does Gyllenhaal sell his Dalton as much as possible? Sure looks like it. I hope that he was able to hydrate like a demon after filming shirtless scenes for Doug Liman. From the synopsis:
WELCOME TO THE ROAD HOUSE: Prepare for legendary fights, brutal bloodshed, massive explosions, epic boat chases and jolts of mischief. Set to deliver first-rate action with some playful surprises along the way.
The film is billed by Amazon as an “adrenaline filled reimagining of the iconic 1980s film,” so again, everyone acknowledges that Gyllenhaal is not Patrick Swayze because no one could fit that bill. Jessica Williams co-stars as Dalton’s pal who owns the road house, and in addition to J.D. Pardo, some of the people that Gyllenhaal might punch include Billy Magnussen, Joaquim de Almedia, Lukas Gage, Arturo Castro, B.K. Cannon, Beau Knapp, and Darren Barnet. Godspeed to all of their faces.
Amazon also released a poster that doesn’t take advantage of the ripped status as much as it could. Why squish those abs up? Reacher would never.
Keep cool. Trailer tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/g0z2PBOeuN
— Prime Video (@PrimeVideo) January 24, 2024
Road House comes to Amazon on March 21.