Road House

Road House (1989)

  • 43% of critics liked it
    (28 reviews)

  • 66% of users liked it
    (58,715 ratings)

Love, treachery, and broken furniture are the hallmarks of this rollicking action drama. Dalton (Patrick Swayze) has a Ph.D., but rather than make a living teaching Socrates at some university, he's opted to become a top-drawer "cooler" -- an expert barroom bouncer who can break up… More

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R,
Directed By
Genres
Drama, Action & Adventure, Romance
In Theaters
May 19, 1989 Wide
United Artists

Critic Reviews

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

    Eventually it mutates into a paranoid revenge plot that might be called Walking Short.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Its vigilante justice, lawlessness and wanton violence feel ludicrous in a modern setting.

  • , Time Out

    Mindless entertainment of the highest order.

  • Caryn James, New York Times

    Road House is much funnier than most comedies, until it turns vile instead of just stupid.

  • Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

    The grotesque soon drowns out the giggles.

Read all 18 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Anthony L


    File under 'You could only get away with this kind of thing in the 80s'. Honestly, in the 80s you could get away with murder just as long as nobody saw it. It's incredibly cheesy but with a brilliant cast including Patrick Swayze, Sam Elliott and Ben Gazzara it's… More

  • Tim S


    Some might call Road House one of the worst movies ever made, and they would be both right and wrong in that estimation. The movie is a conundrum, because it's entertaining on the most basic of levels but yet you still want to hate on it. It's actually got all the classic… More

  • Cassie H


    Patrick Swayze kicks serious ass in this movie where he plays a cooler at the Double Deuce, Dalton. Awesome 80s music and and awesome cast consisting of Kelly Lynch, as Elizabeth Clay who Dalton falls in love with and Sam Elliott who plays Wade Garrett, Dalton's best friend who… More

  • AJ V


    I caught this on TV once a little while ago, there's just a bunch of fighting and tough guys in bars. The dialogue is bad, and the story boring.

  • Conner R


    If you were to ask me if Road House is a whole-heartedly good movie I'd say no, but it's just so out of it's mind and testosterone driven that it has won the title of the quintessential 80s action movie. Patrick Swayze explodes on to the screen as Dalton, the stone cold… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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