Posted by 2024; written and directed by Jeff Nichols; starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy; Rated R; Focus Features; Theatrically released June 21st, 2024.
The Bikeriders is the latest film from Jeff Nicols, the writer/director of Midnight Special, Mud, and Loving. Based on the coffee table picture book of the same name by Danny Lyons, it presents a look at the ’60s and ’70s motorcycle club culture, as it rises and shifts from a little tough enthusiasts to more straight-up gangs.
Translating the pictures to film, it is told via interviews with Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer’s Kathy – wife to Austin Butler’s Benny – in 1965 and 1973 as she’s interviewed by Lyons, played by West Side Story‘s Mike Faist. As a little of an outsider to the culture, and often the moral voice to the group (or only voice, a voiceover is essential with these tight-lipped tough guys), she provides our introduction and path through the ins and outs and the whos and whens. The whos are mainly Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune: Part II), again proving he’s a bonafide star and heavily channeling James Dean, and club leader Tom Hardy (Venom, Mad Max: Fury Road), an electrician who saw The Wild One and said (more of grumbled, Tom Hardy and all) “I want to do that” and did in starting up the club; fittingly to the source of his club coming off like Brando reborn. The triumvirate of Comer, Butler, and Hardy drives the film, working through an accent-off (Hardy wins, Comer comes off forced but is apparently exactly like the real Kathy’s, so I guess it’s actually good?). Their chemistry is undeniable and they work well moving in a fully realized world of small towns, finding your people, and the joy of the open road.
The rest of those are a great bunch of character actors, living their world: Boyd Holbrook, Norman Reedus, and Damon Herriman, among others. And for those familiar with Jeff Nichols’s previous works – Michael Shannon is one of the gang, garnering many of the film’s laughs.
It’s a mostly solid film that starts very strong in getting into this world. The documentary method builds a natural world, with a series of small sequences that feel the “stories guys tell you at the bar” matter-of-factness. I greatly enjoyed the glimpse into a subculture and those who move within. It has a great drive and feel, and the look is spot on. Small towns across Ohio stand in for small towns of Illinois and Wisconson of sixty years ago, and as one who spent much time in these towns as a child (in the 80s, off from a few decades), the look and feel of this slice of Americana is hard to do without feeling pastiche. Kudos to the production, costume, and hair design on realizing a travelogue of a bygone era.
For a while. It’s all engaging for the first half of the run time But around then it becomes noticeable the film doesn’t have much to do with itself and it coasts on the goodwill of the world as the gas runs out, sputtering to the “oh I guess it’s over?” conclusion. The mechanics of the plot are so hands-off, a few fleeting moments and scenes here and there throughout push things forward, and it’s frustrating. I get that that doesn’t match up to my love of the documentary style above, but a little more narrative push would have helped codify the film into a larger work.
This may work better for other viewers with a higher interest in the culture, but it didn’t come together for me. Loved the look into the culture, and there is a great authenticity of the era leading to a strong verisimilitude with strong leads (accents put aside). There’s a lot to like, so if you’re interested check it out.
C
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