Summary
Jeff Nichols crafts a world that feels lived-in and authentic while still allowing the audience to fantasise about motors and freedom and all that.
Consciously name-checking The Wild One and Easy Rider along the way, Jeff Nichols’ sixth feature harks back to a period of great change across the United States. Based on the 1967 photo-book of the same name by photographer and filmmaker Danny Lyon, it’s not quite as documentary but there is a sense of authenticity in the low rumble of its engines.
Framed as a recollection by Kathy (Jodie Comer), the wife of biker Benny (Austin Butler), the film examines the rise of the fictional Vandals outlaw motorcycle club in Chicago during the 1960s. After meeting Benny in a bar, she’s drawn into a world run under the honour code of leader Johnny (Tom Hardy).
Over the better part of a decade, we follow the violent rise and fall of the gang, who are loosely modelled on the Outlaws showcased in Lyon’s original book. Kind of like Goodfellas, the audience rapidly gets pulled into the normalcy of this life. Kathy is initially overwhelmed by the appeal of the outlandish rebels, but soon we think nothing of the boozy picnics that threaten to erupt into fisticuffs at the drop of a beer bottle.
There are violent peaks and emotional troughs, but Nichols stills gives enough space to explore some of the smaller characters along the way. There’s an extended sequence dedicated to The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus that’s quite amusing, and a seemingly unrelated subplot about a group of wannabes that comes swinging back with a vengeance later in the film.
Comer is magnificent, both narrator and charismatic lightning rod for the film. I would not be surprised if she turns up in a list of ‘best ofs’ at the other end of this year. Hardy does that one accent he does, but he’s damn good – it’s like he absorbs all the light around him on screen. Butler’s performance is great as well, although it’s far more obvious. Michael Shannon is terrific as always and I would happily watch a spin-off series just following Zipco telling stories.
When Easy Rider hit the cinemas, it was at the birth of a New Hollywood, one that rejected the bloat of the dominant paradigm. THE BIKERIDERS isn’t quite so revolutionary, being more of a product of that system than a rejection of it, and nor is it meant to be. Yet what it does well is showcase its stars and allow them to shine.
2023 | USA | DIRECTOR: Jeff Nichols | WRITER: Jeff Nichols | CAST: Jodie Comer Austin Butler Tom Hardy Michael Shannon Mike Faist Norman Reedus | DISTRIBUTOR: Sydney Film Festival 2024, Universal Pictures | RUNNING TIME: 116 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5-16 June 2024 (SFF 2024), 21 June 2024 (USA), 4 July (Australia)
