The Bikeriders movie is achingly cool and Tom Hardy is ace
Whether it’s The Terminator shooting from one on a highway, or Steve McQueen jumping for freedom, the motorcycle has always had a special place in the heart of American cinema. Director Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter) pays tribute to the wildest days of biker gangs in the Scorsese-like crime drama The Bikeriders.
It’s told in flashback by Kathy (Jodie Comer), a regular Midwesterner who falls for Benny (Austin Butler), a member of the Chicago biker gang The Vandals. Founded by Johnny (Tom Hardy), what starts as a group of enthusiasts inspired by Marlon Brando in The Wild One turns into a violent organised crime syndicate. Over the course of a decade, the principles of the gang, and Benny’s loyalty to Kathy, are tested to their limit.
The film is inspired by a photobook of the same name, and Nichols tends to lean towards looks rather than stick to the plot. He’s enamoured with the culture, the brotherhood, and the outburst of chaos that can come from the leather-jacketed tribe. Setting it in the 60s also makes the gang a microcosm of the country that surrounds it, always on the verge of disruption. The way in which the story is told, through anecdotes from Kathy to author Danny Lyon (Mike Faist), mean the plot can be fuzzy around the edges. However, it’s more about hanging out with these achingly cool characters than it is seeing where they go. In the truest biker tradition, Nichols wants you to enjoy the ride.
It helps that the cast seem born for these roles. Comer, who has had a rocky start in Hollywood movies with Free Guy and megaflop The Last Duel, sinks effortlessly into the part. Kathy’s matter-of-fact delivery makes even the more outlandish elements seem plausible, while the skill with accents displayed in TV show Killing Eve helps her sound like a born-and-bred Midwesterner. Likewise, Butler slides into the James Dean mould perfectly, as if there were any doubt.
He’s been a bit of a chameleon since his breakthrough in Elvis, becoming a war hero in HBO’s Masters of The Air, and an alien assassin in Dune Part Two. Benny allows him to call back to the aura that made him perfect for The King, staring moodily in a way that makes you understand Kathy’s infatuation. Hardy’s gang leader contains a lot of what we’ve seen before from the actor, but it works as he broods over the legacy of the group he created. A wild looking Norman Reedus and Michael Shannon offer excellent support, adding grit and danger as things develop.
If it didn’t have impeccable casting and a cool aesthetic, the narrative weaknesses in The Bikeriders would be more obvious. As it is, it’s an enjoyable ode to the rebellious, violent mythology surrounding the motorcycle gang, one that Hollywood itself helped to cultivate.