Roadhouse 66 (1984)

Overrated

Admirable film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The box copy hints that this is an action-comedy adventure, but don't be fooled. There really isn't much comedy and the action is pretty intermittent for an adventure movie, but the two lead performances make the exercise watchable. Spoiled preppie Judge Reinhold and cool drifter Willem Dafoe make a likable mismatched pair of traveling buddies, and once you get past the odd logic that Dafoe as Johnny would bother taking his social opposite under his wing to show him the rules of survival on the road, the movie passes pleasantly. The wide open, largely empty desert makes a nice setting and is well used as a place of isolation, where a philosophical loner like Johnny can find solitude to think. The viewer gets slowly sucked into Johnny's view of the world and begins to cheer Reinhold in his philosophical make-over, and leaves with a positive glow. The movie is neither particularly striking or memorable visually, but the chemistry between the two actors makes the time pass amiably and it can be revisited to get back the same good feeling. This is one of those movies that is more a mood altering substance than entertainment, but as such it's nice.

Willem Dafoe plays a drifter who quit the music business after his band partner was killed in a car accident. Judge Reinhold is the stereotypical rich kid from back east, driving his 55 T.Bird. These two meet up in the Arizona desert and spend some time in a small town because of car trouble. There they are harassed by a trio of local goons, and are attracted to a couple of cute blonde sisters. The acting is good, the location photography is stunning, the 57 Chevy, 55 Thunderbird, 55 Chevy, 59 Caddy and 66 Mustang are great, there is even a touch of nudity, along with some terrific rockabilly tunes. "Roadhouse 66" is definitely above average entertainment. If you can sit back and just enjoy the ride, this movie will not disappoint. - MERK

****SPOILERS**** Drive-in type movie with bar fights car chases and crashes explosions country music pretty girls badder then bad bad guys and a good guy who's just too good to be true. Where in the end everyone gets whats coming to them good and bad thats what the movie "Roadhouse 66" is all about. Beckman, Judge Reinhold, a spoiled rich kid driving home to California is almost killed by a gang of local toughs Hoot Dink & Moss,Alan Autry Kevyn Major & Peter Van Norden when his 1955 Thunderbird has it's engine almost shot out after he had an altercation with them on the open road in Arizona. Picking up hitch-hiker Johnny Harte, Willem Dafoe, after his car broke down Johnny fixes the Thunderbird so that it can get to the nearest town Bowman Arizona where Beckman can get a new radiator. While at Bowman Beckman and Johnny meet two pretty local girls who happen to be sisters Jesse & Meilssa Duran, Kaaren Lee & Kate Vernon, who really take a shine to them. The boys get a new radiator at Sam's car junkyard and Sam, Stephen Eillott, lets Beckman keep his car in his junkyard garage. Everything seems fine until the three toughs who tried to run Beckman off the road, Hoot Dink & Moss, show up and things really start to get messy. Decent little movie with Willem Dafoe being Mr.Super-Cool as well as a pretty good guitar player. Hoot later beats the hell out of a very drunk Beckman who bet him in a game of pool at the Roadhouse Bar. It's then that Johnny comes to his rescue and ends up smashing up the entire bar in a fight with Hoot. Johnny pays for the damage that he did by going on the stage where his former band just happened to be playing and belt out a song "Marie Marie" that had the bar crowd go wild. Later Beckman decides to enter the "Roadhouse 66" car race, a race restricted to cars that are pre-1966 models, against Hoot and his gang. It's later that his Thunderbird is set on fire in Sam the junkyard man's garage by Hoot and Sam is killed in the fire trying to put it out. With Jesse giving Beckman her car for the race Johnny who left town to get away from all this excitement and danger later shows up to race in the "Roadhouse 66" car race with Moss' car.Moss just had it with both Hoot & Dink after they almost killed him for warning Beckman not to go to the garage where his Thunderbird was set on fire. This time the car race was a lot different then the one at the start of the film with Hoot trying to shoot out Johnny's car engine after he caused Beckman to crash his car in the race. That was after he, Hoot, secretly dropped a scorpion on the front seat that almost stung and killed Beckman. Hoot ends up being up-ended for his effort with his car smashed and him left for dead and losing the race with both Johnny and Beckman ending up with the two girls Jesse and Melissa at the end of the film. It was brought out in the movie that the reason that Hoot gets away, until the end of the movie, with all the trouble that he causes in the town of Bowman is because his dad is a top judge in the state of Arizona. It seemed that his dad didn't teach Hoot a very important lesson about the rule of law that would have saved him a lot of bumps and bruises which is simply: "Crime Doesn't Pay".

Not much of a plot to interest anyone here, but some very sexy men in blue denim. Willem Dafoe, to my surprise, was once very spunky, and looks great as the tough guy muso hero. Better still, the bad guys, Hoot and Dink are a couple of real nasty pieces. The film had me longing to find that roadhouse and go and start a brawl, just to meet those hot men.