“The Bikeriders”
Not a very fast-paced nostalgia trip
Tom Hardy (left) and Austin Butler in “The Bikeriders”.
© Kyle Kaplan/Focus Features
“The Bikeriders” tells the story of a US motorcycle club in the mid-1960s. What does the drama with Austin Butler have to offer?
“The Bikeriders” by Jeff Nichols (45, “Mud”) takes a nostalgic and unsparing journey into the world of a US motorcycle gang in the 1960s. With a star-studded ensemble, he brings the world of the photo book “The Bikeriders”, first published in 1968, to life.
From 1963 to 1967, photojournalist Danny Lyon accompanied the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club and interviewed and photographed its members. Based on the book, Nichols tells his own story of a motorcycle club in Chicago in the mid-1960s. Vandals leader Johnny (Tom Hardy, 46) founds a rebellious motorcycle club out of love for fast bikes, in which a wide variety of characters, from the machine nerd to the group’s goofball to the leader’s right-hand man, find a home. The club becomes increasingly popular and new chapters are founded in other cities.
Disaster takes its course: a group of speed-loving outsiders becomes a criminal gang that apparently stops at nothing. Vandals member Benny also has to realize this. “Elvis” star Austin Butler (32) plays the seemingly fearless guy with few words who has found support as a lone wolf in the biker community. But he is caught between two stools. Johnny wants Benny to take over the helm soon and become his successor, while his wife Kathy (Jodie Comer, 31) demands that he leave the gang, which is becoming increasingly threatening. His sense of duty to the club and his marriage to Kathy on the one hand and his desire for freedom on the other force Benny to make a decision.
The search for identity
The film shows a group of outsiders from a subculture searching for an identity that they find in the group. But the social structure cannot escape external developments in a time of turbulent political, economic and social change in America. Nichols’ work accompanies the members at group meetings, motorcycle races or family gatherings and traces the transition from motorcycle club to biker gang up to the “end of the golden age” of the club, which is heralded by the new addition to the Vandals, known only as The Kid (Toby Wallace, 28).
In addition to life in an outsider group, the love triangle between Kathy, Benny and Johnny is examined. Kathy, who is questioned by Danny (Mike Faist, 32) as a “witness” about the bikers, becomes the narrator of the story. The British Comer, who acquired a working-class Chicago accent for the film, plays an exuberant woman who bluntly says what she thinks and shows her often unflattering perspective on the club. While she initially enjoys the adventure and exciting life in the rebellious club as a conventional citizen, she increasingly sees his negative influence on her husband. She becomes the outsider of outsiders.
No action film, no love drama
Even though the title might suggest otherwise, biker fans will have to do without long motorcycle rides or chases in “The Bikeriders”. The drama is not particularly fast-paced, not even in terms of the plot. The story up to the all-changing showdown is long and leaves you wanting to know the deeper backgrounds of the characters and their relationships.
Although Kathy’s observations and her marriage to Benny are central to the story, shared scenes remain superficial and private moments are rare, meaning that the audience does not get a real chemistry and emotion between the two. Kathy’s external view, which dominates the film, means that many of the characters remain mysterious and intangible until the end, not only for Benny’s wife but also for the audience. This keeps the focus on the developments, structures and dependencies in the motorcycle club.
The nostalgia and the cast are right
Visually, Jeff Nichols was able to use Lyons’ images to recreate the era faithfully and bring it to life authentically. The film’s vintage look with its old motorcycles, leather jackets and gelled hair is fun to watch. The actors also carry you through the film despite the bumpy plot. Nichols can rely on his star-studded ensemble, which gets the most out of the characters.
Austin Butler, even if the handsome actor lacks a bit of roughness, plays the rebel Benny with ease and Tom Hardy is a perfect choice for the role of the washed-up club boss. Toby Wallace as the young biker and Michael Shannon (49) as Vandals member Zipco also make for a film worth seeing.