The Bikeriders

As "The Bikeriders" (2023 release; 116 min) opens, It is "Kathy interview 1965", and Kathy retells the story of how she met Benny, member of the (fictitious) Vandals motorcycle club in Chicago. We learn that Johnny, President of the Vandals, was inspired by watching "The Wild One" starring Marlon Brando. At that point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from writer-director Jeff Nichols ("Mud", "Loving"). The movie's story line is inspire by a picture book of the same name by Danny Lyon, covering motorcycle clubs in the Midwest 1965-1973. The plot is thin, and this is more about evoking the spirit of motorcycle clubs found in "The Wild One" and "Easy Rider". The good news is that the lead performances are strong, and it is a pleasure watching Austin Butler (as Benny), fast rising British actress Jodie Comer (as Kathy) and Tom Hardy (as Johnny). The movie also features a quasi non-stop soundtrack of music from the late 60s-early 70s. Last but not least, you would never guess it, but the movie was shot entirely in and around Cincinnati (where I live), mostly its suburbs and exurbs. Kudos to Film Cincinnati for landing that production here!

"The Bikeriders" was shot in Cincinnati in Fall of 2022, and premiered at the 2023 Telluride film festival to positive claim. Alas, as a result of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, the theatrical release was pushed back until June of 2024. The Saturday early evening showing where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended so-so (about 10 people). If you are in the mood for a motorcycle club movie evoking the 1960's, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Brilliant acting, brilliantly shot, but where's the story? Having Jodie Comer's character as the erstwhile narrator was a brilliant deviation from tradition, but who's the hero and who's the villain? I know it's based on a book and therefore a true story, but you can bend a story to fit narrative arc. This film has no clear protagonist and the supposed antagonist is only in it briefly as a cardboard cut-out "victim of circumstance". Also, we never clearly establish any of the motives of the main characters. Why are they in the club? Why do they rebel? What are their goals? More importantly, why are any of them riding motorcycles and why don't they just drive cars? This is clearly a key point as I'm guessing the Chicago winters are not fun to ride in.

As a keen biker, I loved the characters and the motorcycles, but this was a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive story.

I left the theatre feeling pretty underwhelmed and non-plussed by this movie.

I had really high hopes with the cast and they all deliver good performances (with Butler doing his best James Dean impression) and the characters all showed initial promise. It just lacked a bit of heart for me and kind of drifted along with no real central story or jeopardy.

I got excited when I heard people comparing this to Goodfellas as it's one of my favorite films... but that comparison falls incredibly short. It was very style over substance and I'm starting to feel like Tom Hardy is getting so typecasted these days - bordering on Staham-esque. This could have been a brilliant movie, but sadly for me it missed the mark.

Remember that scene in "Mad Max: Fury Road" where the one war boy is given Immortan Joe's own pistol, has his teeth chrome-painted and told "I will carry you myself to Valhalla!" then he's thrown up on the war rig and promptly stumbles and loses the pistol? And Joe's brilliant response, "Mediocre!" totally deflates the war boy? That's what this movie is, except it's the audience that gets deflated by this stumbling mess.

What has happened to Hollywood that nobody can write a decent screenplay anymore? I just don't get it. The acting is fine (especially Jodie Comer - she is a revelation; and Austin Butler is imminently watchable even though he hardly says anything), but there just isn't any meat on this corpse for them to dissect.

The first few moments of the movie were promising and I felt like, "Yeah, throw him up on the rig, go war boy!" There are a few really nice shots of cool vintage items with a slick song in the background. It reminded me of Tarantino and my pulse quickened. Unfortunately, that was the only time I was inspired by this at all, because it promptly stumbles and has Austin Butler getting assaulted in a bar for being a biker. Really? This tired cliche? And it never got better.

A few points to discuss: To start with, the bikers in this club wore the "1%er" patch. I am in no way anything like an expert, but from what I understand that patch was worn by true criminal biker gangs. This movie never ever tells us anything about that aspect or even mentions what the members do for a living if they aren't criminals. In fact, we are not privy to their personal lives except in the most superficial of ways - we don't even see Butler and Comer's characters get married. Where these guys truly criminals? Because this felt exactly like an after-school club they joined to put on their college applications. If they weren't a criminal organization (which the true gang this was based on was), then those guys were in it purely for the love of motorcycles. But that is not communicated at all. Zero love. There are a few moments where the movie gestures toward it, but they are fleeting and far far from passionate or inspired. We are never made to feel that love.

In fact, for a movie called "The Bikeriders," there is precious little about bikes or riding. I was never once inspired by this movie to go out riding. Never once. No cool shots of them riding, just one chase scene that again, was nothing but a cliche. It doesn't explore whatsoever the ins and outs of being a bike rider in Chicago. We don't see one winter day in this movie - yet it takes place over some ten year time span. What do these bike lovers do when they can't ride? Chicago winters suck. Not a single word about it. They liked to get together and race, but we aren't privy to any of the race ins and outs. Even - and this is a very telling point - Jodie Comer's character mentions the "rules" of the gang twice and how all-important they were. We are NEVER told the rules. WTF???

This was more uninspired garbage from Hollywood. Passionless, overly cautious, mediocre... like most of everything else from the big studios these days. I was so disappointed. I went home and watched a few late 60s and early 70s biker films on Amazon Prime. One that I really liked was called "Angels from Hell" - a super b movie that does more in any given five minutes to show the culture of an outlaw biker gang than "The Bikeriders" did in the whole 2 hours. Even Kathryn Bigalow's first movie "The Loveless" is better than "The Bikeriders" for communicating the mindset of outlaw bikers.

People compare this movie to "Goodfellas" and I don't get that at all. There is nothing whatsoever dangerous about this movie. Nothing whatsoever traumatizing. Also nothing whatsoever inspiring.

I guess I'll have to watch Fury Road again... this one is more like feeble road. Six stars just for the acting and costumes, but I'd probably go 5.5 if I could.

We were both looking forward to watching this. Great actors, and a seemingly engrossing story. Told from the view point of Jodie Comer initially we both thought it got off to a good start. It was atmospheric of the era, and there was nothing wrong with the clothes or cinematography.

But it was actually a dull story. Dull. A story of a biker gang in the late 50' early 60's. The gang and their colours were everything. They weren't particularly'bad', the bad ones come later, after returning from Vietnam- and the increasing drug culture. Austin Butler now appears to have one particular way of acting. He wants to look like James Dean (he does have a passing resemblance), and I find him stilted and too full of angst. Jodie was ok, although why you would hang around with these people - the life appears one of poverty and strife. Love Tom Hardy, but it was very much a brooding role. Burdened with the role of leader, it could only end one way. We stuck with it, but frankly, we won't ever watch it again.