The Bikeriders (2024)

Jeff Nichols latest film is inspired by a photo-book of the same name by Danny Lyon, a photographer who rode with and documented a biker gang in the mid 1960's. The film's trailer seemed to suggest something of a bike riding gang war, appealing perhaps to those who enjoyed Sons of Anarchy (2008-2014) with more emphasis on violence than character development.

What we get is much more nuanced than that, and even if Nichols film doesn't hit the heights of the peers it name-checks (The Wild One [1953] and Easy Rider [1969]) it provides some excellent performances and offers both style and substance, two things which so frequently fail to come together.

The story is mainly told by Kathy (a superb Jodie Comer, who is the star of the piece despite the other names on show), the wife of Benny (Austin Butler adds yet another string to his impressive bow), the wildest yet loving loose canon of the Vandals bike gang- one which is led by Tom Hardy's wannabe Brando, Johnny.

Nichols regular Michael Shannon (Take Shelter [2011] and Midnight Special [2016]) pops up with a thoroughly amusing cameo as one of the Vandals, and generally you enjoy spending company with the members and their families- until around halfway through when younger, less respectful individuals start their own units of the Vandals across the country and things come to a head towards the finale.

Nichols film is well made, well shot, and as I've said, superbly performed. That does only get you so far though, and despite the handsomeness of The Bikeriders, there is something strangely inert about the lack of plot. It's not necessarily that we need a specific through line; more that we want something to sink our teeth into, a reason to care about all the interesting characters and scenery on screen. Despite the fact that Nichols deserves plaudits for not simply falling into a dull tit for tat gangster movie, it does very much lack the engrossing nature of a Scorsese vehicle for instance, and at times you wish for something with a little more jeopardy or double crossing amongst the main characters, a la Casino (1995), Goodfellas (1990) or even Gangster No. 1 (2000).

The opening sequence shows Benny being badly beaten for being in the wrong area wearing his Vandals colours- and as this scene cuts, the film sets up something it then fails to become. So whilst The Bikeriders does a very good job of not becoming the film it sets itself up to be, bizarrely in some ways its strength can also be its downfall. 7.2/10