Film Review - The Bikeriders
Strong performances from Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, and Austin Butler drive Jeff Nichols's solid biker flick
Writer-director Jeff Nichols has an admirable CV of underrated, often thought-provoking gems including Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012), Midnight Special (2016), and Loving (2016). His latest, The Bikeriders, isn’t in the same league. However, it’s still a worthwhile watch featuring a clutch of decent performances.
Based on Danny Lyon’s photo book, this centres around members of the Vandals, a biker gang inspired by the real-life Outlaws motorcycle club, circa Chicago in the late 1960s. The film introduces Kathy (Jodie Comer), who falls for young, brooding rebel Benny (Austin Butler) when she meets the Vandals, led by Johnny (Tom Hardy, deliberately impersonating Marlon Brando). The bikers are raucous, frequently drunk, but not particularly dangerous at first, despite flashes of violence (for instance, when Johnny is challenged for leadership of the gang).
However, as new chapters of the Vandals pop up in other areas, Johnny’s control over the gang begins to slacken. Although started primarily as a racing club - with picnics, boozing, and the occasional brawl amid the burned rubber - younger, less principled members introduce alarming criminal elements, including drug smuggling and worse. Increasingly worried about what might happen to Benny, Kathy finds herself in conflict with Johnny, as he eyes Benny up as a possible successor. “You can’t have him, he’s mine,” she tells him. Inevitably, her rebuke falls on deaf ears.
Kathy narrates the story in a manner that reminded me of Lorraine Bracco’s voiceover in Goodfellas (1990), though it would be a mistake to indulge in too much comparison with Scorsese’s masterpiece. For one thing, this lacks the energy of Goodfellas and feels a lot more low-key. Despite obvious allusions to films like The Wild One (1953) and Easy Rider (1969), this is less derivative of biker movies than one might expect. I think the trailer slightly gives the wrong impression of a more action-driven narrative.
All that said, The Bikeriders does just enough to engage the audience, with fine performances from the central trio. Comer is particularly good and nails the working-class Chicago accent. Hardy is as reliable as ever, even in cod-Brando mode. As for Austin Butler, he proves characteristically chameleonic, oozing enigmatic charisma in his young, often silent, tough-as-nails character, but hinting at something vulnerable and repressed. He remains one of the most exciting up-and-coming actors working today.
Good supporting roles include Michael Shannon’s hard-of-hearing military reject “Zipco” (constantly berating “pinkos”), Norman Reedus’s Californian biker “Funny Sonny”, Damon Herriman’s loyal “Brucie”, Emory Cohen’s bug-eating “Cockroach”, and Mike Faist as Danny Lyon himself, constantly interviewing and taking photographs. All this adds colour, making up for a slightly meandering story and lack of dramatic punch in key moments.
Featuring a soundtrack of well-chosen if occasionally obvious pop songs, The Bikeriders certainly has atmosphere. It evokes the look and feel of the period to good documentary-style effect, courtesy of cinematographer Adam Stone. There are even shades of Carlito’s Way (1993) in a subplot concerning a young wannabe gang member played by Toby Wallace, who constantly hassles Johnny to join the Vandals. Since Carlito’s Way is one of my favourite films, I enjoyed being reminded of it.
That said, I doubt I’ll ever consider The Bikeriders one of my favourites. All in all, a good film despite the flaws. Just don’t go expecting brilliance.
(Originally published at Medium.)
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