Movie Review: Roadhouse (1989)

Directed by Rowdy Herrington

Starring Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch and Sam Elliot

For a guy who loves movies and has watched many classics and cult classics from prior decades, I never watched this movie until recently. The best way I could describe the movie is a testosterone fueled game of chicken between a virtuous tough guy and a manipulative crime boss. The movie is an action packed popcorn flick that for my money was a mix of good and bad. The movie had fist fights, displays machismo, sex, mixed in with crime, corruption, and small town politics and power play. I had this movie sitting on my DVR on Sling from MGM+ for months and finally got around to it. I enjoyed it though it was not without its flaws.

The movie is certainly iconic and has pop culture significance. I found Swayze’s performance as Dalton to be a stoic lead man, rooted in philosophy and martial arts. His job was as a traveling bar clean up man who owners hire to retool the staff, re-do the bar and enhance security. Almost like John Taffer of Bar Rescue but he does not yell and actually fucks people up. He is brought in to bring order to a chaotic rock and roll bar in a town ran by a crime boss who controls the town like a gangster protection racket. Ben Gazzara who played Jackie Treehorn in Big Lebowski places an excellent villain in Brad Wesley. I feel in many ways Gazzara may have stole the show as a calm but brutal antagonist. The plot did remind me much of the 1970’s film Walking Tall that involved a similar power dynamic and villain. Sam Elliot played a great mentor to Dalton with his performance as Wade Garret the aging version of Dalton who comes in as support.

I tried to not take the movie too seriously and let it get in the way of the fun but there are some criticisms that I have. Dalton was Miyagi like figure who was a man of few words and got his point across mostly through action. When he spoke he made it count and could have a serious but sarcastic charm. However, at other times his delivery was a little wooden and one dimensional. I also found the martial arts and fist fighting mixed with the guns and explosives to create an odd scenario where you have to suspend your disbelief to make it work. Wesley had the Sheriff and police bought off and used intimidation to silence anyone who crossed him. He blew up businesses and homes of rivals and it felt like he could have blew up or shot Dalton at anytime and had zero consequences coming his way. This didn’t totally ruin the movie but it made everything seem a little silly. Wade’s death also felt incredibly predictable and preventable at the same time. Wade was in rough shape following a fight with Wesley’s guys and Dalton left him alone in the bar to save his girl. When he returned Wade had been killed by the posse which had me yell “how did he not see this coming!?” and like the door in Titanic that seemed capable of sharing, why didn’t Dalton take Wade with him.

Overall I am glad I finally got around to this flick and the positive outweighed the negative. The movie is made all the more relevant by the most recent adaptation starring Jake Gyllenhall and a major role for MMA fighter Conor McGregor. I heard mostly negative things regarding the remake and if given the opportunity to watch it I may give it a shot. This movie was a fun and I think that was the point here, a do over might provide some easy to digest entertainment.

Movie Review: Plus One (2019)

Directed and Written by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer

Starring Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid

Produced by Red Hour Productions

Viewed on Netflix

This movie flew under my radar in 2019 after premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival it only got a limited theatrical release and was put on Hulu and VOD which I do not have. The production company is Ben Stiller operated and I tend to enjoy his work. This movie centers around Alice Mori and Ben King played by Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid. The two main characters are a pair of singles going through a summer wedding circuit and the woes of being the “bridesmaid but never the bride”. Alice is single due to a recent breakup that has left some scars and Ben is letting perfect get in the way of the good when it comes to his love life. Both characters clearly want love in their life but sit on the sidelines as everyone but them gets married. Attempts to mingle and meet other singles ends in failure. Ben and Alice decide to plus one each other to all of the weddings they are invited to in an effort to support and wingman/woman each other.

The tale of young adults feeling the pressure to get married and fear of being alone is not a new story. However, the two leads perform quite well in their roles and make a familiar tale feel fresh. The movie did feel a bit predictable but the characters were likable enough to still keep the movie enjoyable. I had never seen Maya Erskine in another movie but she was funny and had an unusual but sarcastic delivery in her lines but could hunker down and be convincing for the more serious and dramatic moments of the movie. Jack Quaid I learned was the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan and kept noticing when he looked like each parent which was somewhat distracting. I thought Jack played a pretty good straight role in a comedy film and was a nice compliment to Erskine. He was a little more jaded by his father’s divorce and his unrealistic views on love/marriage. Where Alice had a protection mechanism from getting hurt early, Ben was willing to dive into things but would get antsy at shit or get off the pot time.

There was a fair bit of character development over the course of the film. It seemed like the movie was going on a down note before a change of course in the final act. The ending felt a little cop out like but then again many relationships and human behavior don’t always go in the direction of the expected. As a thirty something guy who is not married and has gone through the gauntlet of friends and cousins getting married I do know the pressure and emotions that weddings can draw out. It is another landmark on the life cycle of adulthood and I feel this is a time when kids become adults. Married people tend to run with other married people and the next step is having children. Those two steps basically end any remnant of childhood and lead into middle age. A cleavage forms between single and married and some feel the pressure to settle down and marry and others stay the single course and maybe become less relatable to those around them. These realities are faced by the stars of the show and I believe both actors navigate and portray this conundrum very well.

I will conclude by indicating that I enjoyed the movie and would want to see more from the directors and lead performers. The movie had a good mix of humor and serious and will be relatable to those in the wedding age demographic. It may not be relatable to teens but might be charming to those past the wedding age viewers.

Book Review: The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage

Written by Nick de Semlyen

Published in 2023

A chronicle of the 80’s action stars and the movies they created. The book delves into biography, politics, production and pop culture surrounding the action heroes of the screen. The book begins chronicling the origins and rises of both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone in their similar rises to fame. The writing then branches off into the directions of other stars like Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Jackie Chan, Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lungren. de Semlyen covered a lot of different topics in his writing that made this book more engaging than I had expected. Besides just discussing the movies and what was iconic about them, the author got into political and sociological analysis as well. The behind the scenes details around the making and production of these films was interesting as well.

I am a big action movie fan and had seen a lot of the movies discussed in the book. I now come away with a few more to check out and have some things to consider while viewing the films. The arc of the genre and the actors was also interesting as to where these movies fell in the zeitgeist at the time but also why they are still loved today. I feel this book will be a hit for an action fan, an interesting read for a film buff not engaged in the particular genre and could be worthwhile for someone in neither category. I admit I skipped some sections, particularly on Chuck Norris because I just am not a fan. Though I’m not a Steven Seagal guy either, I found the passages on his persona interesting. He definitely created an interesting name for himself in the industry with a mysterious back story and odd connections. Stallone came across as a little bit of a jerk in some sections with how he was on set sort of like an insecure Napoleon.

It was interesting to see how the genre came to be and how it came to pass. After Watergate and the Kennedy Assassination and Vietnam people were very cynical and wanted movies about corrupt governments and anti-heroes. Rocky seemed like a long shot as studio big wigs did not think the American public wanted an inspiring and heartwarming story. As the Cold War intensified in the 1980’s movies taking on Communists in Latin America, South East Asia and other regions were all the rage. As the Cold War ended and there was no geopolitical threat, street crime in the cities and politicians calling for kinder and gentler action movies were beginning to fall out of vogue. That is when the action stars went in the direction of comedy or satires that took a meta look at the genre and lampooned the stars with them in the movie. Eventually, super hero movies came to take down the genre as super powers allowed non muscle bound alpha male types to dominate. Also, every man type of actors like Bruce Willis in Die Hard or Michael Keaton Batman chipped away at the action star mold.

This was a nice easy listen for me in the audio book format with roughly ten hours of audio. I liked it for my morning walks where I try to put in easy listening and books that are not as dense or require notes and following along. This may also lead to some film reviews on the blog. I enjoyed the book and am curious to see what other similar work the author has done on other genres and forms of entertainment.

Film Review: After Hours

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Catherine O’Hare, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong

Released: 1985

I scrolled through my Kanopy app last night looking for a movie to watch. I came across After Hours which was a movie I had never heard of before. It had good reviews despite being a box office flop. It also is the last Scorsese film to not be an adaptation. It was an interesting genre incorporating aspects of screwball comedy and thrillers. 

This movie was a bit of a roller coaster ride with constant changes and running around. Characters seemed to come and go without much meaning and every interaction created tension and conflict. The movie also seemed to really encapsulate that grittier 1980’s New York. The movie premises around Paul Hackett the uptown word processor at a boring job going to a cafe and meeting Marcy Franklin. They connect over a book that he is reading and she gives him his number. In a fit of intrigue he decides to call her up and head downtown to SoHo. Nothing goes according to plan and he finds himself with no money trying to get home, all he wants to do. As the movie goes on you can feel the tired desperation of Paul who continues to sink lower and lower as he is dragged into one scenario after another.

I liked the movie as it built tension well and Paul became relatable as the movie moved along. At first he just seemed like a loser at job he hated, somewhat shallow, and uninspiring. As he became enmeshed in the night it became apparent that he had good morals, good intentions, and was just down on his luck. He became easy to root for despite the many setbacks and misunderstandings. However, he did have numerous opportunities to get out of there but kept trying to make things right that ultimately led to more setbacks and obstacles. The ending felt like a little bit of a let down after all of the build up going. I don’t usually care about spoilers on this blog, especially on a movie older than I am but I figure this movie is good enough and the few readers I do have might appreciate a lack of them for this movie. 

I sort of had the “what the hell did I just watch” feeling when the credits rolled. Did the movie have greater meaning or was it just a thrill ride for fun? I scoured Reddit of course and many others said the same thing about enjoying the film but being exhausted by the end. There were not too many interpretations being thrown around minus maybe a few references to The Odyssey which resonated with me a little. Scenes in the movie also reminded me of a New York classic The Warriors with the chases. There was one really good interpretation I saw on YouTube that compared the movie to The Wizard of Oz with shot to shot comparisons and thematic similarities. Was the movie a dream? Was Paul dead and this was his journey to the underworld? Lots of interesting speculation came along with this movie. 

Definitely a good movie that will keep viewers locked in. There were some good performances turned in by an array of good actors/actresses. I’d be curious to see if anyone else has seen or what readers think after giving it a shot. 

Film Review: Leave the World Behind

Released 2023

Directed by Sam Esmail

Leave the World Behind was an eerie film that felt like a long form episode of Twilight Zone. The movie centered on an apocalyptic breakdown of technology and society. Throughout the film the audience is kept in the dark with information coming in small doses. The main characters are a family of four on vacation in Long Island, New York and a father/daughter pair who own the rental. Much like Red Dawn there is a sudden collapse of society without outside information reaching the characters. The movie plays upon many interesting themes regarding technology, self-reliance, escapism, disaster and mis/disinformation.

The film is based on a book written in 2020 and though I never read it, it did feel like COVID all over again. The characters were in a perpetual state of isolation, fear, not knowing what was going on, and they were all distrustful of each other. I cannot say how much I loved the fact that the movie did a lot of show and not tell. There was very little exposition and explaining of the larger situation and I liked that. The characters were given a lot of room to explore the situation and argue and try and rationalize what was going on. There was conflict and tension ran high at many moments throughout the film. Some of the dialogue was haunting, especially from Mahershala Ali and it felt like he knew much more than he was letting on. The acting in general was outstanding with the short performance of Kevin Bacon really jumping out as the cold prepper trying to survive.

I have done minimal research on this movie since it ended but I wanted to touch upon two things that I most certainly will look into. This movie was produced by the Obamas and to be frank, I am surprised by the lack of conspiracy theories. It is interesting to see a former president still in the public eye producing a movie touching upon such themes. Elon Musk will likely weigh in on this movie as well given the Tesla scene that featured his crashing self-driving cars.

The end had me laughing out loud as the Friends theme kicked in. I am sure the ending will piss a lot of people off but I am not one of them. I felt what this movie symbolized more than anything is how powerless an individual or small group is. The other truth this movie put forth is our reliance on technology and fears of individuals leads groups to collapse even if they have the best intentions. The characters would repeatedly find good ground but then revert back to distrust and anger. I used to get angry when characters acted irrationally or stupid in these moments but I have been coming around on this. I have begun to tolerate characters that I throw my hands up at as it is hard to say what I would do in a situation much like this.

The movie does end with an ode to physical media which has been a hot topic as of late. Christopher Nolan and Guillermo Del Toro have been very vocal in regards to this push to save tangible media. It is a fight against streaming services and big tech. It is funny how reliant we have become to our devices. We check for texts we haven’t received. Our phone, GPS, email, news, entertainment have all been relegated to one device. There are some other interesting moments like Ethan Hawk having to go get a newspaper to see what was going on. They had no road maps so they did not know how to get to a hospital. I also began to think about Animal, Vegetable, Junk and individual food production and how quickly humanity unlearned major hunter gathering skills.

I want to write a better review than this as I feel the movie has more to discuss but I also have given myself little time to digest. I may update this later or do a part II.