The Enduring Popularity of "Road House."

I love films that challenge,confound expectations, and make you think. I hope you do, too. But every now and then I also enjoy watching a film that does none of those things. I am referring to the Patrick Swayze film "Road House," which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. I don't know about you, but I always watch at least part of the film whenever I catch it on cable. If I was still running a cable network, I would schedule it every chance I got. Even a quarter century after its release, the film remains a potent ratings performer. Entertainment Weekly's Dalton Ross, who shares a name with Patrick Swayze's character in the film, created a chart for Road House fans to track its violence. He counted 55 punches to the face, 24 stomach punches, 26 kicks to the chest, and esoteric violence such as 7 pool cue strikes and 1 man crushed by a stuffed polar bear. You can find the details at: http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/04/29/road-house-patrick-swayze-fight-chart/. Road House is structured like a classic Western. The owner of the local bar in this unnamed small town hires Dalton, America's greatest bouncer, played by Patrick Swayze, to ride into town in his sports car and clean up his bar, the Double Deuce. Dalton is not only a martial arts master but also a zen philosopher who says things like "pain don't hurt," and "be nice, until it's time not to be nice." The movie signals early on that we're not supposed to take any of this very seriously, so we just enjoy watching Swayze, beat up bad guys, woo Kelly Lynch, the world's most glamorous emergency room doctor, and avenge the death of his mentor played by Sam Elliott. We also get to see a lot of Swayze's magnificently sculpted body, since he spends a lot of the film shirtless. The small town is run by an evil, rich man, Brad Wesly, played in scenery-chewing glory by Ben Gazzara. Gazzara was a very promising actor when he was younger, but you wouldn't know that from this film. In fact, very little about the plot makes sense, which is why I think the film spends so much time on various fistfights and destruction of property. Road House is the very definition of a film that's usually called a "guilty pleasure." We know it's not a great film, but we enjoy watching it anyway. But why does it work? How does this combination of fist fights, zen philosophy, and shirtless Swayze continue to draw an audience when so many other films from 1989 have faded away? I believe the key to Road House's success is the performances. Yes, the situation strains credulity, but doesn't break it. All the actors act as if the situation is real, and their total commitment to their performances allows the audience to suspend their disbelief. Dalton is a particularly compelling character. There's also something admirable about a man known for keeping the peace who prefers not to fight; that's a trope that content creators have used successfully throughout history. We all want to root for a man who always does the right thing, no matter what the cost. Finally, there's the rough and tumble of the actual fist fights; what man hasn't at some point, fantasized about being able to enforce order just by beating people up? The lesson I take from Road House is to make the world you create as believable as possible. Once you set up the rules of that world, stick to them and make sure that characters behave according to those rules. It helps if the characters are attractive and the heroes and villians clear. But let's not analyze the film in too much depth. Let's just enjoy it for what it is, the next time we see it on cable. And remember, be nice until it's time not to be nice.