It’s shocking that we even get to watch “The Bikeriders” in theaters this summer. The Telluride Festival premiere found itself in a litany of studio and release complications, having several release dates, dropped entirely from its original distributor, only to be picked by up again and hit with another round of shifting release dates throughout the year. This is often a sign that said film is an unmitigated disaster that no one wants to be responsible for, and while I’m somewhat tepid on “The Bikeriders,” it is by no means a film that deserved such a merry-go-round. Packed with stellar performances and expert craft, the film possesses a ton of strengths that for some will overpower its shortcomings. For myself, I found it to be unnecessarily distant and detached, all too reliant on its star power and never fully embracing its obvious homages to things like “Goodfellas” and “Easy Rider.“
It’s a lot of looking cool and exploring the identity of rebels at a pivotal time in history, where free love and establishment collide leaving most men in the middle to find a new path for themselves. “The Bikeriders” seeks to explore toxic masculinity and rebels without a cause in a way that captures the time it existed in, embracing the cultural experiences of men in the late 1960s to early 70s. Much like its clearly influential counterparts, it attempts to paint its foundations with shades of gray, focusing on complex characters searching for purpose in a world that feels black and white, as well as create a safe haven for the outsiders and rejects of the day. Jeff Nichols imbues this film with a kaleidoscope of colorful characters that all seem to embody a specific type of person who would’ve (and most likely did) existed at this time, and while the distance with which he frames his characters may stifle an audiences’ investment in them, it is clear that Nichols’ is as ambitious as the world he’s trying to recapture.
Written and directed by Jeff Nichols (“Loving,” “Midnight Special“) and based on the book of the same name by Danny Lyon, “The Bikeriders” tells the rise and fall story of The Vandals over roughly a 10 year period. They’re a midwestern motorcycle club created to be a new family for outcasts that slowly transitions into a life of violence and organized crime. The film is largely told through the perspective of Kathy (Jodie Comer), wife of young but beloved Vandal Benny (Austin Butler) as she recounts how she got involved with the gang and how it changed everyone over a specific decade. It is a non-linear narrative told from a collection of interviews captured by journalist Danny Lion (Mike Faist) as he follows the gang as a photographer/interviewer over the years. The film also stars Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Norman Reedus, Boyd Hollbrook, Damon Herriman, and Toby Wallace.
For its strength, Hardy and Comer are absolutely cooking in their respective roles. Comer dons a nasally midwestern(?) accent that most would probably eviscerate if it weren’t for how unabashedly committed Comer is to every single role she’s given. “The Bikeriders” relies heavily on Comer, as she is our audience surrogate into this world and the central perspective with which the film is built upon. Hardy continues his mumble mouthed endeavors as Johnny, doing his best Marlon Brando impression as the gang’s original founder and longtime leader. As much as Hardy loves roles where all of his speech can be intelligible, he is a master of non-verbal communication. “The Bikeriders” only scratches the surface of most of the characters it introduces us too, but the shrouded, conflicted, and visionary character of Johnny are so brilliantly brought to life by Hardy that what he says continues to be the least interesting part of whatever he’s doing onscreen. For Bulter, he’s got everything you need from an “it” factor perspective. “The Bikeriders” relies heavily on him just looking cool and not much else, making Benny a central figure to the story without ever giving us enough to really care about him.
Bulter is the least interesting part of his own character vehicle, with Nichols recognizing that everyone is horny on main for him right now and made “The Bikeriders” solely for the purpose of capturing his chiseled jaw line and wild but slick, James Dean hair. I’m still not sold on Butler, the ferver around how hot everyone finds him being the overwhelming opinion that drowns out whether he’s actually a good performer. I think that he is, and if this is Hardy’s Brando, it is almost certainly Butler’s young Brad Pitt. I think he’s got the juice, but I’m gonna need everyone to look past their loins and do some actual criticism. Just because Butler gives you the spidey tingle in your nether regions doesn’t automatically make it a 5 star masterpiece, and “The Bikeriders” seems to be working overtime to cater to this idea.
Maybe I’m just on socials a little too much and that’s not what’s actually happening here. This film is more than hot dudes being hot by relishing in their toxic masculinity. There is a clear homage to some aforementioned films, with the first 30 minutes being a direct rip off of “Goodfellas” in almost every single way possible. This actually isn’t a bad thing, as Nicols more than understands the strength of Scorsese’s work instead of just being a lackluster copycat. It surprisingly works really went and personally the best. Nichols seems to want to have both; a clear homage to the crime stories he loves as well as his own take on The Vandals from his own adaptive work.
It ends up being a clash of craft and ambition, with Nichols making the most of his stellar cast while also never quite able to fully realize his story or characters. While it possesses so many of the strengths of his influential foundation, it never embraces them with open arms, leading to that distance and wanting you feel as the events unfold.
Nothing is ever clear, and not that “The Bikerriders” needs to spell out the rise and fall but rather it never dives deep enough into its framework to deliver a truly compelling story. The beats are familiar even when it’s trying to be different, and the unreliable narrator in Comer never completely puts things into perspective. Gaps in history and character and events are glossed over simply by it being told from a different perspective, which would be applauded if it didn’t leave so much out all the time.
Benny as a character is operating on charm and little else, playing a pivotal role in both Hardy and Comer’s life but never feeling like a whole person that actually existed. He’s told with such removal that it’s hard to really know anything about him even when both of his co-stars are monologging about how important he was and is to them.
The same came be said for the colorful cast of side characters we are introduced to and rarely spend anytime with. Meandering, plotless storytelling can work if the characters we are suppose to invest in are more compelling that whatever journey they’re suppose to be on. “The Bikeriders” falls short of both, never giving enough purpose to its characters to invite us to invest in the story being told about them. It is so sprawling in all of the things it wants to do, and never commits to the techniques and obvious influences of its better counterparts. It’s a shame too, because everyone is giving everything they have to each and every role, big or small. Shannon has maybe 10 minutes of screen time as Zipco, and he works overtime to make him one of the most fascinating people you see onscreen. Hollbrook too, who has never seemed to find his true vehicle to stardom is excellent in this setting. Even Reedus, who I’m convinced just showed up on set from his chop shop show or whatever and Nichols was “like you, you’re in!” and just gave him a character.
“The Bikeriders” is anchored by its incredible performances and cool rebel vibe, packed with rousing and introspective moments that do resonate even if the entirety of the film doesn’t quite get there. Hardy and Comer are the absolute backbone of everything, true catalysts of the vision Nichols has but can’t quite realize with everyone or even the story at hand. I genuinely loved the world trying to be created here, and the craft of visuals and staging and cinematography and performances are all top notch. It just doesn’t quite work as a whole, often relying too heavily on the cool factor to invite us to ponder its more nuanced and intelligent themes. It would almost work better as a wholly embraced homage to “Goodfellas,” shifting our narrative perspectives between our 3 leads to give us more insight into each person we’re suppose to follow.
“The Bikeriders” is a good film, that falls just shy of being a great one, comprised of strong foundations and stellar performances that never quite coalesce into a fully realized project. It leaves you with some questions that should’ve been answered were it more invested in the story instead of devoting more time to making Austin Bulter look cool. I’m sorry, but Butler being hot is not a good enough reason to champion this film. I mean, maybe it is and I’m just salty and need to go touch grass, but its an echo chamber I can’t seem to escape and here more than I’d like. Still, its themes of transitions, rebellion, toxic masculinity, and watching your creation slip away from you as the times change and the tragedies mount are fascinating. Just wish they were more of the focus to bring “The Bikeriders” into focus as a whole, and for that it didn’t enrapture me as much as I had wanted.
I don’t know if “The Bikeriders” has the legs for this, but I’m down to start the Oscar for Comer campaign now.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
“The Bikeriders” is in theaters June 21st. You can watch the trailer below.
