Based on a photo-book by Danny Lyon, The Bikeriders is the latest feature directed by Jeff Nichols, and it was a film that I was tentatively looking forward to seeing for months. I tend to like the films of Nichols, and I have enjoyed the acting work of stars Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, and Austin Butler, to varying degrees. With the likes of Mike Faist, Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, and Norman Reedus in the supporting cast, I felt quite confident that there would be enough here for me to enjoy.
That confidence was a bit misplaced.
There's a storyline here, but it's a very slim one. Comer plays Kathy, a woman telling her story to Lyon (played in the film by Faist). She explains how she ended up meeting Benny (Butler), and how she often felt that he was torn between herself and the leader of a motorcycle club (Johnny, played by Hardy). The club goes through a number of changes, the world starts to change even faster around them, and the people do their best to pretty much stay the same. And that's it.
A lot of men are stuck in various stages of arrested development. I get that. I AM that. Hey, I like to act mature and wise sometimes, but you have no idea how often I have clicked on the adverts for some awesome LEGO sets and wistfully sighed as I eventually backed away from them. I'm a middle-aged man who can be very childish. I don't want anyone to make a movie about me though, and I would expect that movie, if made, would show me up for the occasional idiot I am. A lot of people also need to be part of something bigger than themselves, which doesn't always align with a position that society thinks you should have. I also get that. I am happy, via the upside of the internet and social media, to be connected to many film fans and collectors worldwide. Again, however, I'm not sure any film showing that would make me look anything other than a bit silly and super-geeky (not that I would be bothered, I have fully embraced my geekiness for a good 10+ years now).
The Bikeriders has cool people being very uncool. The men shown act more like children a lot of the time, and they are all connected by their love of motorbikes, and a subsequent loyalty to one another that stems from the bike-riding outings. There's a way to make that story, but Nichols doesn't find the right approach.
Both Hardy and Butler do fine with what they're given, and neither feel as if they are being stretched, but it's Comer who ends up being the highlight, mainly due to her character being able to see both the allure and the major downsides of the lifestyle being recorded by Lyon. Shannon is as great as ever, and both Holbrook and Reedus do enough with their limited screentime to make a surprising impact, considering the stars overshadowing them.
Everyone looks the part, the period feels nicely recreated, there are some treats on the soundtrack, and the pacing is just right, thanks to the various main incidents plotted out on the way to a fairly inevitable conclusion. Sadly, none of this can overcome the inherent problems in the material, especially without the best way to take viewers into the onscreen world. Considering how many others seemed to really like this though, maybe the "problem" lies more with me than the film.
5/10
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I think this is coming out on Peacock or it already is out, so at some point I might watch it to see if I like it any better.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've wondered before is: are there many motorcycle gangs in the UK or Europe? Or is it more of an American thing where you have a lot more empty space for riding? I remember in a movie I watched a couple years ago there was a biker gang in Vietnam, which seemed odd to me.
Apologies, forgot to publish this sooner.
DeleteWe have bikers here in the UK, and there's a great old (very quaint) British horror movie about bikers trying to gain eternal life called Psychomania :)
I think my opinion of the movie was mostly the same. There didn't seem like much story to it and not much chemistry with the leads. Not even a lot of great motorcycle stunts. Mostly just a log of people sitting around drinking beer and occasionally getting into fights.
ReplyDeleteI did like that Lucero did the end title song. I have a few albums of theirs plus one the lead singer did about Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.