The Bikeriders (2024) Focus/Drama RT: 116 minutes Rated R (language throughout, violence, some drug use, brief sexuality) Director: Jeff Nichols Screenplay: Jeff Nichols Music: David Wingo Cinematography: Adam Stone Release date: June 21, 2024 (US) Cast: Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Norman Reedus, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Beau Knapp, Emory Cohen, Karl Glusman, Toby Wallace, Happy Anderson.
Rating: ** ½
The Bikeriders desperately wants to be Goodfellas, but never quite gets there. Its fingerprints are all over this crime drama depicting the rise of the motorcycle club The Vandals circa the mid-60s. It sounds good, but it lacks the energy that defined the Scorsese classic. It doesn’t draw you in like Marty’s mobster magnum opus.
Written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Midnight Special), The Bikeriders is inspired by Danny Lyon’s 1967 photo book about the real-life Outlaws MC. He’s played in the film by Mike Faist (West Side Story). He’s on the scene to interview club members about their lifestyle, but the one he speaks to the most is Kathy (Comer, Killing Eve). She’s married to Benny (Butler, Elvis), one of the original members of the club founded by Johnny (Hardy, Mad Max: Fury Road) in response to the post-war American Dream passing him over. It’s his way of rebelling against society. The idea comes to him while watching The Wild One on TV. That would explain why Hardy appears to be imitating Marlon Brando with his performance.
The plot of The Bikeriders is simple; it’s a rise-and-fall story. The Vandals started out as a motorcycle club comprised of men who like the feeling of freedom that comes with riding a hog. They were only violent when provoked like when Benny is assaulted by two men at a bar after he refuses to take off his colors. Johnny and the others show up in force and burn the place to the ground while frightened first responders stand and watch. Their downfall begins when they start accepting younger members who turn the club into a criminal enterprise.
In true Scorsese fashion, Nichols relies on voiceover to relay pertinent information to the viewer. In the case of The Bikeriders, it’s Kathy talking to Danny. She tells him about her first encounter with the guys at a bar. She was scared on them at first. They were rough, crude and scary. Then she sees Benny across the joint at the pool table. She’s instantly intrigued by him even though she denies it. They eventually get together and are married in a matter of weeks.
The performances in The Bikeriders are top-notch. Butler, doing a great James Dean impression, nails it as the laconic Benny, a guy whose loyalty to his brothers-in-arms runs deep. He’s always ready and willing to jump in and kick some ass if he sees one of his BIA in trouble. Hardy is also very good as the leader who invites anybody with a problem with the way he runs the Vandals to “challenge” him with fists or knives. Michael Shannon (The Iceman) makes the most of his underwritten role as a psycho gang member angry over being rejected to fight in Vietnam. Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) injects a bit of humor as a dirty biker from California.
The only weak link in this area is Comer whose Midwest accent is bad to the point of being distracting. The actress herself is fine as the supportive wife who wants her husband to stop riding and start being a husband. It’s a cliched character, but Comer makes it work as much as she can.
Nichols gets the aesthetic just right. The Bikeriders has the grimy look and feel of the lifestyle of a biker gang. Taking yet another cue from Marty, he fills his movie with era-authentic needledrops. I kept waiting for “Gimme Shelter” to start playing (it doesn’t). Nichols drops us right into the middle of this subculture without making it as interesting as it should be. Where is the feeling of danger that comes with this life? I never really felt it, not even when a major character walks right into his demise. We see it coming from a mile off, so it’s not a shock to the system like the sudden killing of Joe Pesci’s character in Goodfellas.
I don’t hate The Bikeriders; I’m just disappointed by it. I wanted it to be great. Nichols is a gifted filmmaker and the cast is first-rate. It really should have been better.
