Review of Roadhouse 66 (1984) by Allan C — 07 Jan 2017

Not awful cheapie action/drama film about nerdy Judge Reinhold passing through a small Arizona town on Route 66 and picking up drifter/musician Willem Dafoe. The two then run afoul some local toughs at the titular Roadhouse, which provides the main conflict in the film, which culminates in a drag race of sorts.

The two also meet up with a couple local girls, one of whom is played by Kate Vernon and who I was mostly familiar with from the reimagined "Battlestar Galactica" as Ellen Tigh. I looked her up and didn't realize she also played one of the mean girls in "Pretty in Pink" and that her real-life dad is John "Dean Wormer" Vernon, but she's quite likable and fetching in her role here.

However, overall this film is really meandering, has pretty superficial character development, and would likely be an unwatchable film if not for it's before-they-were-famous cast, though I suppose Dafoe had just appeared as the bad guy in "Streets of Fire" and Reinhold had just played the goofy partner in "Beverly Hills Cop" so they were at least familiar faces at this point if not major stars.

I did like the film's thowback feel to 1950s juvenile delinquent movies, but it was odd to cast adults in what back in the day would have been Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood. This one is mostly of interest only to see early performances by not yet famous actors.