The Bikeriders
Jeff Nichols takes a nostalgic look at some rebels without a cause in this drama
Austin Butler and Tom Hardy shift into some great character work in Jeff Nichols' latest film The Bikeriders.
In The Wild One motorcycle club leader Marlon Brando is asked what exactly he’s rebelling against.
“Whaddaya got?” asks Brando with an indifferent tilt of his head.
It’s a cool scene. So cool that when The Wild One airs on TV in 1960s Chicago, trucker Johnny (Tom Hardy) changes his whole life. Always a motorcycle racing enthusiast, Johnny decides to form his own motorcycle club styled after Brando’s in The Wild One. Thus, the Vandals are born.
At first, the club is just a group of outsiders who love bikes and sneer at the squares they feel have shunned them. Yes, they drink and run traffic lights, but members are also gainfully employed and have families. As the club grows, so do the problems Johnny faces as the leader of the pack. People want to start chapters throughout the Midwest. Suddenly there are hundreds of Vandals Motorcycle Clubs. Johnny’s original idea of Brando-based rebellion and fun begins to morph into something darker and more sinister.
Based on Danny Lyon’s photobook that chronicled the Midwest Motorcycle Clubs in the 60s and 70s, The Bikeriders is a deeply nostalgic film. Director Jeff Nichols plays with the concept of masculinity and the primary icons of the time. Hardy’s Johnny is a Brando figure (he even has the name of Brando’s biker in The Wild One), self-styled to be a brooding tough guy who can lead men and be tender with women. Johnny’s best friend Benny (Austin Butler) is a clear stand-in for James Dean. This is a movie about the iconography of rebellion, and what it means when you focus on the aesthetics without considering the consequences.
Though Nichols touches on several interesting ideas — the inherent homoeroticism in male-only spaces, the choking repressiveness of traditional masculinity, and the beautiful bonds that grow between men with a common goal — The Bikeriders sort of skids away from looking at any of these ideas too deeply. The film itself feels like flipping through a picture book, there are lots of stirring images and ideas, but with no story to flesh things out it’s hard to be too invested.
Part of the problem is the narrator. Instead of having the men tell their own stories, the plot of the film is mostly laid out by Kathy (Jodie Comer), Benny’s wife. While Comer remains an excellent, engaging actress, giving Kathy the narrative power removes a lot of emotional resonance from the film. No matter how charming Comer is, if the story is about Hardy and Butler, it’s odd to hear it coming from her. Most egregiously, Kathy doesn’t particularly offer us any insight into her own relationship with Benny. There’s no reason they got together, no reason she stayed, no real chemistry to report. The relationship just…is. The result feels like hearing someone with ADHD tell you the plot of a movie they saw last month.
But even with a shoddy script and odd narrative device, The Bikeriders features some excellent character work. Nichols’ greatest strength as a director is assembling great ensembles. This movie is an excellent example of that. The Vandals motorcycle club features a murders’ row of character actors, including Michael Shannon, Norman Reedus, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, and Emory Cohen. Each actor offers an intriguing performance, featuring a variety of wackadoo takes on a Midwest accent, and Nichols makes sure to give each a moment to shine.
And while the ensemble offers up the real enjoyment of the film, it’s the relationship between Hardy and Butler that really gives the movie an emotional core. Hardy’s Johnny is a quiet tough guy, who desperately wants to embody the cool, stoic archetype. He’s nearly obsessed with Butler’s Benny, who regards everything with a glacial detachment. Benny, in turn, seems to respect Johnny’s ability to lead. It’s a fascinating dynamic and one that Nichols should have dug more deeply into.
Overall, in spite of some skids with the script, The Bikeriders rights itself through the power of its ensemble. It’s a sweeping bit of nostalgic charm and it’s hard not to smile as you hear the engines roar.
Verdict: Featuring some excellent character work, The Bikeriders gets by on its considerable charm.
The Bikeriders is rated R and available in theaters June 21.
