Elwood Dalton, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is the protagonist of Road House (2024). He is an ex-MMA fighter hired by Frankie to restore order at her roadhouse.
Elwood Dalton is a popular name. However, in the film, Dalton is seen competing in underground fights to make money.
A particular MMA fight from the past haunts Dalton. During that fight, he lost control over himself and possibly killed his opponent, who, apparently, was his friend.
That fight may have marked the end of Dalton’s MMA career. When Frankie first meets Dalton, she assumes that Dalton has figured out an easy way to make money by showing up at these underground fights and scaring his opponents away.
After all, the champion fighter that night, Carter Ford, stepped away the moment he realized that he was facing Elwood Dalton.
When Frankie first offers Dalton the job of restoring peace at her roadhouse, Dalton declines the offer. However, he eventually comes to realize that he needs this job.
Creating a rapport at Glass Key
Dalton arrives at Glass Key. While he proves that he is perfect for this job, as he easily takes out the thugs who are terrorizing Frankie’s roadhouse, he also earns everyone’s respect and admiration.
The word about Dalton spreads. He becomes good friends with the staff of Frankie’s roadhouse, The Road House.
He teaches a few of his moves to Billy, who works at the roadhouse, and hires Reef as another bouncer at the place.
Dalton also befriends Charlie, a teenager who runs a bookstore in Glass Key with her father, Stephen, and gets romantically involved with Ellie, a doctor working at a hospital nearby.
Dalton makes a boat owned by Frankie his home. Life seems to get back on track for Dalton, but nightmares of his last MMA fight keep haunting him.
Dalton’s fate at the end of the film
Protecting Frankie’s roadhouse lands Dalton in trouble with Ben Brandt, whose family has built half of Glass Key. He is seeking to buy Frankie’s roadhouse too for his dream resort.
Apart from Ben, Dalton also faces Ellie’s father, the sheriff of Monroe County and Ben’s business partner, and Knox, a psychotic thug sent by Ben’s father to look over Ben.
Knox pushes Dalton to the edge, nearly bringing his dark side out, which Dalton had warned Ellie about.
After facing Knox, Dalton resolves to leave his job and the town. That’s not because he has been scared off. Dalton fears that he will lose control over himself again and end up hurting someone else, much like how he hurt his opponent in his last MMA match.
Brandt’s men end up pushing Dalton too far by burning down Charlie and Stephen’s bookstore. Charlie and Stephen had nothing to do with Ben and Dalton’s business, and this didn’t sit well with Dalton.
In the end, Knox ends up killing his boss, Ben Brandt, while Dalton takes Knox down to stand tall. Ellie’s father gives Dalton the chance to skip town while he takes care of this mess.
Dalton boards his bus, but he makes sure to pay Charlie and Stephen. He leaves Brandt’s money, which he had stolen earlier, to Charlie and Stephen, who lost their bookstore because of him.
Also Read: Road House (2024) review: Action-packed but inconsistent