There was Patrick Swayze, there is also Jake Gyllenhall. How did the new “Bouncer” fare? [RECENZJA]

Amazon Prime Video decided to refresh the hit from the late 1980s. Patrick Swayze in “Bouncers” played a cultured, educated (complete philosophy!) bouncer in a second-rate bar with a black belt in karate. The film was the quintessence of the golden 1980s. Swayze, as a real star (the premiere of “Dirty Dancing” took place only two years earlier), was expected to handle the uncomplicated role of a bar fighter. Unfortunately, “The Bouncer” turned out to be a somewhat mediocre title. Today, over 30 years later, it’s very clichéd, and even though “Believe in a Ghost” or “Dirty Dancing” is a pleasure to watch, “Bouncer” is more funny than exciting.

However, it turns out that the 1989 production has its ardent fans on Amazon Prime Video. As we know, Patrick Swayze is absolutely irreplaceable (and irreplaceable), but there was someone who stepped into his shoes. That someone was Jake Gyllenhaal. The film was directed by Doug Liman, an expert in action films. How did this duo handle the classic from years ago?

“Road House” is “Bouncer” without the flaws of its time

If you haven’t watched the first movie, let me quickly summarize the plot of “Road House”. Dalton, a former UFC fighter with a short fuse, gets a job as a goalkeeper. The owner of the bar rents it for a lot of money and quickly finds out why he pays a lot – the place has problems with local gangs. Dalton effectively maintains order, which infuriates the gang bosses. A classic story begins about a knight errant who, with a noble heart and the strength of a mighty fist, brings justice to this unjust and cruel world.

If today the first director of “Bouncers”, Rowdy Herrington, saw the new “Road House”, he could probably say: if only I had such opportunities, if we made films differently back then! In the new version we get a production without the flaws of those years. There are no naked girls, the fights look more like fights than air boxing, Gyllenhaal has packed (and this is a very small word for the metamorphosis he has undergone for this film), there are more jokes (whether they are successful is another matter) , there is better music… It’s still a movie of the “I turn it on on Friday evening and turn off my thoughts”, but it is more fun than it would be today with “Bouncers” from 1989. Unless it was a mediocre movie night.

It was decided to make a thorough remake – there was no risk of too big changes in the plot, some trauma from the past was added to Dalton (and muscles, the new Dalton got A LOT of muscles) and regardless of the sympathy he feels for Patrick Swayze, Jake Gyllenhaal disarms absolutely every embarrassing scene with his smile. in “Road House”. There are a lot of them, because the director decided that he wanted to pretend that he could make films in the style of Guy Ritchie, which did not work in every scene. Fortunately, “Road House” is funny enough to provide a lot of entertainment at a not particularly high level.

Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Road House’ instagram.com/jakeghaall

This is not an ambitious or serious production. She doesn’t even aspire to be one. But regardless of this, it is a beautiful killing, beautiful Gyllenhaal, beautiful natural circumstances and great music (apart from Gyllenhaal’s right hook, this is the strongest point of the film). I’ll venture to say that it’s a pity that “Road House” won’t be released in cinemas – it would be great there. I was never a fan of the first “Bouncers”, but this new one could make you laugh much better at times than the original, which was too serious (yes, those were the times). Dalton was rewritten here, a lot of looseness (and muscles) was added to him, and the obligatory porn on the screen, which was obligatory in the old days, was removed. I will never say that Jake Gyllenhaal is better than Patrick, because criticizing Swayze is a sin, but… Jake does his job and doesn’t insult the original. The villains are dumber than in “Bouncers”, which makes them less pompous. There is a lot of quite funny jokes here, and the two hours of the show are not long, because in the longer moments there is always a new spectacular punching to the accompaniment of a well-selected soundtrack. Do you need anything more? There are some evenings when this is enough.

“Road House”, dir. Doug Liman, starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor, Jessica Williams. Premiere: March 21, Amazon Prime Video