The Road House remake began to gain traction when it first appeared that Jake Gyllenhaal hijacked UFC 285 to shoot parts of the movie in early 2023. What initially seemed over-the-top and cringy to many fans is now wiping the slate clean with 100% scores on Rotten Tomatoes and raving critical reviews following its debut at South by Southwest. This has further infreased the hype surrounding the film.
Road House Receives Rave Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes!
What many thought would be unsuccessful after catching a glimpse of the Jake Gyllenhaal movie, the Road House remake is now proving every single negative critic wrong with a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Interestingly, the original Road House holds a mere 41% on the site. The barrage of positive reviews started pouring in after its debut at the South by Southwest conference.
This marks a particularly strong start to the movie, with Empire calling it a “total riot” in their statement,
“Expertly handled by director Doug Liman, wittily scripted, and boasting a wonderfully original take on the action hero archetype, this new Road House is a total riot,”
Whereas, IndieWire appropriately described its viewing experience as pure nostalgia bliss, stating,
“is a fitting update to its predecessor’s legacy. Not because it’s better, or even because it’s all that similar, but because it moves with the same unselfconscious stupidity that fueled so many of the ’80s blockbusters we remember so fondly.”
While The Guardian awarded the movie three stars, both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter showered it with praise, describing it as thoroughly entertaining.
All in all, the film is kicking off with a bang, and the positive word-of-mouth is its greatest asset, despite the numerous ongoing controversies it is currently embroiled in. While these controversies may affect the numbers, so far, the film is holding up well. It’s set to release on Prime Video, adding to the excitement surrounding its debut.
Controversies Surrounding Jake Gyllenhaal’s Road House
Given the nature of the film, not releasing it on the big screens might feel like a crime, as it deserves to be fully experienced. Doug Liman, the creator of the remake, boycotted his own movie’s premiere at the SXSW for this very reason, and explained his decision on Deadline earlier this year,
“If we don’t put tentpole movies in movie theaters, there won’t be movie theaters in the future. Movies like Road House, people actually want to see on the big screen, and it was made for the big screen. Without movie theaters, we won’t have the commercial box office hits that are the locomotives that allow studios to take gambles on original movies and new directors…”
Liman revealed that Amazon’s acquisition of MGM led to Road House bypassing a theatrical release in favor of streaming.
However, Variety reports state Liman and Gyllenhaal were offered a $60 million budget for a theatrical release or an $85 million budget for streaming, ultimately opting for the second option.
Amidst all this chaos, the film is also facing a copyright infringement lawsuit from its original writer, alongside allegations that the studio employed artificial intelligence to replicate actors’ voices during the historic 2023 SAG strike. Although it was speculated that all this would affect the movie’s performance numbers, the SXSW conference proved otherwise. Only time will tell what lies ahead.
Road House is set to release on Prime Video on the 21st of March.
