The Bikeriders is a 2023 adventure-drama following the rise and fall of a new motorcycle club known as the Chicago Vandals in the mid 1960’s.
Let’s ride. In 1960’s America, counterculture is in full effect, and an individual could turn to multiple avenues and find a group with its own norms and existence. One of those avenues heavily features motorcycles, and a small club in the Midwest is slowly starting to grow. The Chicago Vandals are led by Johnny (Tom Hardy), a family man who has aspired to create a brotherhood community of rider fanatics who can support each other in tough times, and just get away from things. One of those members is the mystifying Benny (Austin Butler), the epitome of a maverick. Capturing it all is photographer Danny Lyon (Mike Faist).
Introduced to this new world by a friend is Kathy (Jodie Comer), who is ready to exit it as expediently as she enters it, but it’s the gravitas of Benny that keeps her in it and binds to him quickly. They become husband and wife. Kathy marries more than just Benny, she marries his life and love for the lifestyle which puts a strain on their union, particularly as the dynamics of the club clientele change for the worse.
The Bikeriders is somewhat of a tough one to talk about. At least for yours truly. From this person’s vantage point, it falls into the category of something I really wanted to love after being drawn in by a hooking synopsis (and great poster). Yet I’m left somewhere between the feelings of being impressed and disappointed, which in this case averages out to being average.
Visually, the movie is striking and photorealistic, which happens to be an apt description considering it is inspired by the photo book carrying the same name courtesy of photographer Lyon. Few directors capture the aesthetic and energy of the American Heartland like auteur Jeff Nichols has shown time and time again. He is assisted in this effective realization with contributions from cinematographer Adam Stone, and respective leads overseeing production design (Chad Keith) and costume design (Erin Benach), along with many others who deserve to be mentioned if space allowed. I could imagine the wear and tear on the jean jackets, feel the heat from the park bonfires, and sniff the cigarette smoke and cheap beer emanating in nearly every scene. There’s a lot of both.
Similar to a maverick motorcycler, the story of The Bikeriders moves at its own pace within its own structure, which sounds better than it is in this context. Written by Nichols, it’s not themeless; explorations of masculinity, community, and a pretty solid look of the how even the tightest of knitted groups with centralization eventually devolve into uncontrollable, decentralized messes if there’s no ability to monitor who comes in and where—which is the most interesting and complete throughline of the film. But much of the plot itself meanders in stretches (nonexistent in others) and missing a core conflict for most of the first half. Told through the lens of Kathy, it resembles a magazine spread with bold, big text subject quotes rather than an involved story.
An all-star ensemble makes up The Bikeriders, but the roles many of them play like Michael Shannon, Karl Glusman, and Norman Reedus—great character actors—amount to de-facto cameos. The film revolves around the trio of Butler, Comer, and Hardy, and all are doing good work operating at different singular speeds, but it is Butler who fits the role best, tailor made as the epitome of effortless cool for this time period. Still, one may come away thinking that if each were afforded more speeds to work and deploy with a more dynamic script, these performances would go from quite good to quite great.
The Bikeriders is a cool film to get lost in the world, sounds, music, shots, etc. I can see it being a pure vibes feature; Michael Mann’s Miami Vice sort of comes to mind. However, even that film had conflict, core characters with noticeable depth, and a pronounced build towards something. Unfortunately, being a cool film for The Bikeriders also means it left me feeling indifferent by its conclusion and in the subsequent days I’ve had to think about it.