Directed by:
Jeff NicholsScreenplay:
Jeff NicholsCinematography:
Adam StoneComposer:
David WingoCast:
Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook, Norman Reedus, Damon Herriman, Beau Knapp, Emory Cohen, Karl Glusman (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
The Bikeriders captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club. (Universal Pictures UK)
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Reviews (11)
Old school. Honest filmmaking, yet Jeff Nichols goes about it a little differently. A motorcycle thesis, starting with a look at Marlon Brando in The Wild One, wanders between the various characters, their monologues about the poor and war, cars and banging the pretty Kathy. The acting is top-notch in each of the Vandals, but Austin Butler and Tom Hardy tower above them all. Hardy's thoughtful, good-natured Johnny as the founder and boss shows that it was all originally about picnics and a sense of freedom, and Butler, as the embodiment of that Savage, is the role model and son he always wanted (I guess? Nichols is not literally wise). The Bikeriders is based on a photo book so it's fortunate that it has a plot arc and an unexpected ending and says a lot about what women think of men. Still, it lacked one bigger scene to stick in the memory and push it up that proverbial notch. But maybe they didn't put it in for a greater sense of realism.
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A praiseworthy work that dusts of the good old motorcycling setting and has a good time building a story and characters. With superbly cast actors who do excellent work. The fragile Jodie Comer among tough guys who don’t belong anywhere, so they belong to themselves. Tom Hardy’s growling and stares have never been more expressive and the rebellious heart-throb Austin Butler gives the film the spirit of the most iconic version of cinematic America (James Dean). The Bikeriders is an enjoyable old-school flick for fans of ensemble acting. It doesn’t need a sophisticated plot to be entertaining with every scene and it keeps its outcome unpredictable all the way to the end. Probably the film’s coolest and most original scene, romantic and macho at the same time, is Butler’s seduction of Jodie Comer in front of her house.
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The Bikeriders rides the wave of nostalgia. The cast is definitely trendy, but the story feels like filler between Danny Lyon's photos. It's not really important that the inspiration from The Wild One seemed somewhat archaic even in the sixties. What matters is that the tradition of Easy Rider continues.
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This retro film impressively built on atmosphere has its origins in a literary-photographic publication detailing the lifestyle of the members of an actual motorcycle gang in the late 1960s and early ’70s. This is thematised in the story through the character of its author (a photojournalist), whose questioning of the main protagonist (the wife of one of the bikers) forms the framework of the film and sets its rhythm. Through these two observers, we are gradually familiarised with the members and the rules of the gang, whose vision of rebelliousness and freedom goes hand in hand with chronic idleness, vagabondism and vandalism would otherwise be hard to relate to. The characters in the gang grow in number in the second half of the meandering narrative, whose thin plot is determined by a study of the relationships between the individual bikers. However, these characters aren’t given any more exposition, as the story intentionally puts them in the position of anonymous, unwanted intruders who in the climax contribute to the decline of the golden age of motorcycling. Together with that, the film’s tone changes, when the initially humorous episodes and free-thinking hedonism are supplanted by tragic twists and melancholy reflecting the symptoms of the era, especially the trauma and experiences connected with the war in Vietnam. At the very least, Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Michael Shannon are absolutely excellent thanks not only to their performances and characters, but also their nonchalant demeanour, manner of speaking and, in some cases, atypical appearance.
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Pretty weak. Ironically, it's where the film should have started. Because it's not until the last 10 minutes that we find out that the gang is in full swing (prostitutes, drugs, murders), so what we wanted to see will be in the sequel, which won't come. So if it wasn't for the guy gangster shit, I was hoping to at least enjoy the bikes, but NOPE, even those are scarce here. Mainly, it deals with relationships. Tom Hardy and Austin Butler were good, but apart from one burnt down pub and an “almost” rape, nothing interesting happened for two hours, and after the promising trailer, I see that as underwhelming. I didn't completely suffer, but then I'm not happy with the outcome either. At least the cameos of more familiar faces will be nice. 5/10.
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