Maya Salam, ‘Road House’ Still Reigns as the Best Bad Movie, NYTimes, August 12, 2025.
“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.
I could care less whether or not it really is the "best" bad movie – mainly because I'm skeptical about "best" claims in on behalf of complex phenomena where there is not objective metric – but, yes, it's a fun movie. I've enjoyed watching it.
The rest of the article is organized under these headings:
Mindless Brawling and Pointless Nudity
Sure, why not?
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