The Bikeriders is the latest film by Jeff Nichols, his first since 2016 in fact. Starring Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy, the film takes place in the mid-1960s and follows the exploits of an outlaw motorcycle club known as the Vandals.
The film isn't so much of a character study. In fact, one of the main characters of the movie, Butler's Benny, doesn't speak much at all and has a casual indifference to just about everything from his wife to the MC. But the film works best as a snapshot of a period in time, looking at the counterculture movement of the outlaw motorcycle gangs of the 1960s as they transitioned into organized crime. When looking at the movie this way, I think the film works better than expecting to get to know these characters on a more intimate level.
Bolstering this idea of the film being more of a portrait is the cinematography. Many of the shots are recreations of the photographs in the original The Bikeriders photo journal from Danny Lyon, who is played here by Mike Faist. Lyon frames the film around two interviews with Comer's Kathy, Benny's wife, who gives an oral history of the gang to Lyon. With so much ground to cover and so many colourful side characters, including appearances by Norman Reedus, Boyd Holdbrook, and Michael Shannon, I do wish the film was longer so we could've had more time with the rest of the MC.
If you liked Goodfellas and/or Outsiders and enjoyed Sons of Anarchy, I think you'll enjoy this one.
Full review here.
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