ROAD HOUSE (1989)

“There is such a throuple vibe going on”

I’m always way too early for cult films. I remember seeing The Big Lebowski opening weekend in a theater with not a single other person. Or I’m way too late, like never seeing 1989’s Road House until last week.

Road House is a 1970s-style small town actioner about a Zen bouncer with a degree in a philosophy played by Patrick Swayze. The film somehow landed out of time in 1989 with one of the biggest stars of the era, a Joel Silver budget, and neon lit cinematography by Dean Cundey that captures all the Aqua Net and the bloodshed with more acuity than should be expected.

I don’t know if I can add any more understanding to this well-loved film. But I can bring in Emily Schultz—longtime Patrick Swayze fan and my screenwriting partner—so we can get into the craft that makes Road House work as well as it does.