ROAD HOUSE (1989) is closer to like PREDATOR (1987) which is another incredibly stupid but well-made mid-budget 80's movie than it is to like, a MST3k incompetent schlock-fest that can only be enjoyed ironically. The movie works for the reasons the filmmakers were trying to make it work.
Similarly, Patrick Swayze, a good actor, is good in it. His performance is frequently funny, on purpose, because he understands he is in a funny movie that is trying to be funny.
Like they establish how evil the main bad guy is by having LITERALLY A MONSTER TRUCK break through a glass wall and crush a bunch of his rival's cars and people are like "wow i wonder if this movie wants me to take it totally seriously or not" bsky.app/profile/butp...
A polar bear taxidermy statue lands on a B tier goon, incapacitating him for the final fight.
When asked what happened to the main bad guy by authorities once shit goes down, the goon states "A polar bear fell on me."
Road House is CINEMA.
Films directed by ex stuntmen (see also Hal Needham's Burt Reynolds movies) can be relied upon to deliver on, at the very least, the fights & car crashes, but Road House does a lot more than that. It is also a very 'female gaze'-y movie.
