Road House’s most controversial star divides fans

Road House, Prime Video’s remake of the ’80s classic, has finally dropped — and its most notorious star has quickly split viewers.

Directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow), the modern-day do-over stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Dalton, a former UFC fighter who becomes the cooler for The Road House, a Florida Keys bar infected by rowdy drinkers and local goons.

To cut the first half of the movie short, he ends up annoying the town’s head honcho — and his imprisoned father calls in the help of Knox, played by Conor McGregor, a swaggering, keyed-up thug hellbent on killing Dalton and causing carnage wherever he goes.

McGregor’s casting has become one of the most divisive talking points of the film since it was released on streaming. The star has been the subject of several controversies over the years, including sexual harassment allegations and other assault charges.

“I am being so serious when I say that Conor McGregor is unironically the best part of the new #RoadHouse movie,” one viewer wrote on X/Twitter. “Conor McGregor is honestly an injection of energy in a movie where all the non-Gyllenhaal characters feel flat and boring. Way better than I expected from a fighter in his first role,” another wrote.

“Conor McGregor objectively steals every scene in the new Road House movie,” a third tweeted.

However, others have had less positive things to say — and that’s putting it politely. “Conor McGregor is so bad they haven’t invented words in the English language to describe it yet,” one wrote.

“Conor McGregor in Road House makes every professional wrestler who ever tried acting seem like a prime Denzel or De Niro in comparison,” another posted. “Can someone digitally remove Conor McGregor from the new Road House film, it’s not half bad if he weren’t in it,” a third wrote.

Road House is streaming now. You can also read more about its soundtrack and post-credits scene.