Solidly performed dramatic piece of 1950s American culture.
While a photographer finds himself riding with an American biker club, he interviews Kathy, a young woman also swept up into the club. She finds herself involved with Benny, a man who wants nothing more than to ride with the club.
But when the club expands with more and more members, dedication and loyalties begin to fracture unions…
Director Jeff Nichols brings a 1950s slice-of-life to the screen, inspired by the real life photographs and interviews taken by Danny Lyon. The film stars Austin Butler (recently seen without hair or eyebrows as the villainous Feyd in Dune Part 2) Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road) and Jodie Comer (Killing Eve and The Last Duel). It also stars Michael Shannon, who also starred in Nichols’ Midnight Special in 2016.
The film is framed within the interview with Kathy (Jodie Comer) speaking long after the troubling events that befell the Vandals biker club. Everything begins with her anxiety-filled appearance at the Vandals club’s bar, acting like a deer in headlights. Until she meets the steely-eyed Benny (Austin Butler). The club’s founder, Johnny (Tom Hardy) has high hopes for Benny, but Kathy has every intention of escaping the biker club with Benny some day. Because while the club looks after its own, and even respects its own appearance by outsiders, days of strife are just around the corner.
Taking place in 1950s Midwest America, the film has great production. There’s a real griminess to everything. The biker’s clothes are weathered, rough, and sun-baked. The interiors are cramped and stifling (especially during the introduction of Kathy to the club). There’s a lived-in quality to everything. Performances are excellent too, with Jodie Comer coming out on top. Austin Butler too, continues to show great promise.
The story has a hidden tenderness with these rough-looking characters. Kathy has a particular line that evokes this subtext. The story investigates masculine fragility and how caustic it can become if repressed due to surroundings and upbringing. By the time the story ends, there are emotions to be felt for these characters we have spent so much time with.
That said, the film does feel a little long. Running just under two hours, this plodding pace is likely due to two things. The framing device, with Kathy’s character talking us through the story; framing devices work, but they do take some of the tension away. The writing is also a little uninteresting. No one wants Marvel-level dialogue in their drama movies, but The Bikeriders really doesn’t have any memorable lines or dialogues. The scenes begin, and characters say dialogue with straight-forward efficiency.
This isn’t to say the performances are bad. As mentioned already, the acting is great across the board. It is only the writing that feels quite uninteresting.
Overall, The Bikeriders is a solid drama with very good performances. It steeps the audience in the time period and while slow paced, the characters have emotional weight.
