I love filmmaker Jeff Nichols. He has captured some true pieces of American culture on the big screen, from small film to small film with big idea after big idea. Midnight Special, Take Shelter and Mud are just some examples of stories that Nichols has crafted that appeal to cinephiles and audiences who come to see stories which are grounded and rooted in reality. Instead of going down the fictional route again of telling a story, Nichols has this time researched Biker culture in 1960s Americana to tell a story that involves a lot of crime and a lot of drama, all of which actually did happen, with his latest film The Bikeriders.
The Bikeriders is Nichols at his most mainstream. There is a big audience appeal with this film and that is mainly down to its insane cast of truly impressive talent. Austin Butler, who has just come off from a career making performance in Dune: Part II, plays Benny, the central protagonist if you will of this story. Jodie Comer, an impressive actress unto her own, is Benny’s wife who dictates her life to Challengers actor Mike Faist who plays documentarian Danny Lyon, whom of which wrote the real book that the film is based on. All of this creates a stranger than fiction tale that also includes heavyweight actors Michael Shannon, Tom Hardy, Norman Reedus, Beau Knapp, Boyd Holbrook and many more. There is a lot of character juggling but that’s mainly due to the context of the story - these bike riders were more of a family than a cult.
The Bikeriders paints this slice of culture as a drama that focuses on how this small group of individual grew to what soon became a fear-inducing gang that rocked many small towns in central America. The group soon became notorious as the individuals started to include gang related rules and laws into their group. The de-moralisation of the group is the main topic that the film explores. Benny and his wife Kathy are conflicted as their opinions and perspectives of this group are challenged at every corner. What should be a compelling story ends up become a bit of a fractured mess. There is too much to explore, too many characters to focus on and the film aims for a Goodfellas approach to the story but sadly doesn’t succeed in that attempt.
The Bikeriders prides itself on its script and cast, which hold the film together remarkably well. Comer and Butler are the highlights as they present the moral compass of reason in this fight for keeping biking culture relevant and modern, by making it more than just about guys and bikes and instead promoting freedom and retribution for a more modern American society. The film digs into key themes of power and male masculinity, and in that regard it makes Comer’s presence in the film all the more compelling as she had to hold her own around these men, all of which exuded testosterone. The Bikeriders in one light appears to be an award-baiting film with the talent involved pulling all of their weight, and in the other light it tries to be a copycat thriller in the likes of the Godfather and other crime epics. Either way, it tries a bit too hard in both attempts of telling this story.
The film itself captures the style, essence and tone of the era very well. It truly does transport you to a different time period, and the film has a very bold start. The interview based narrative however takes you out of the film when it starts getting good and always when you start getting invested in it. It is a little too late into the film to actually let it have any affect on you what-so-ever despite the nature of the film. The Bikeriders tries too hard and it never truly succeeds as the film it tries to be and it instead copies too many tropes and genres that heavily influenced the making of the film.
★★★☆☆
3/5
Final Verdict:
The Bikeriders has a lot of talent in front of the camera and it knows it. There are too many characters to point any focus on the plot. Benny and Kathy are our surrogates into the story, and while these performances are great, they could be pushed to be a bit more better. The drama elements work, the true story based elements are too short and the overall result is like a knock-off of Goodfellas. It may not be what it sets itself out to be - an ambitious tale of biker culture - but it still remains to be seen as an entertaining story about a different time in American society.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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