7 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Road House' Still Reigns as the Best Bad Movie
What's a 'good-bad' movie? It's the kind of flick that might have you cackling, hollering or groaning, one that is not exactly great cinema but is great fun. It's highly watchable even though — or maybe because — it's memorably ridiculous. And it always has at least one element that pushes it into absurd territory.
'Road House' is the 1989 cult favorite starring Patrick Swayze as Dalton, the Tai Chi-practicing, philosophy-degree-holding bouncer-cooler with a heart of gold who is remarkably adept at ripping out throats.
Even then, Roger Ebert identified 'Road House' as expertly walking a fine line. The movie 'exists right on the edge between the 'good-bad movie' and the merely bad,' he wrote at the time. 'I hesitate to recommend it, because so much depends on the ironic vision of the viewer. This is not a good movie. But viewed in the right frame of mind, it is not a boring one, either.'
When it comes to relishing the zaniness of this and all good-bad movies, an ironic vision and the right frame of mind are essential — always. Have you similarly deliberated the merits of 'Road House'? Here's my breakdown of why, ultimately, it prevails.
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