Rent The Bikeriders on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Jeff Nichols, Danny Lyon (book)
Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, Beau Knapp, Norman Reedus, Paul Sparks
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
After a chance encounter headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, a member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.
Verdict
It's a neat bit of historical fiction, as we see the rise of this motorcycle
club before clubs became prominent. It's a place where outsiders find camaraderie, but of course that type of life
attracts criminals. The club grows, evolves, and leaves
the original members behind as it becomes a criminal enterprise. This is a stand in for various organizations as we watch the rise and demise. The popularity of the club gave rise to it shifting to something that the original members didn't want, and they lost it. This movie allows us to experience that world, the ups and the downs.
Watch It.
Review
When I realized this was a Jeff Nichols movie, my interest grew. I'm a fan of his movies like Take Shelter, Loving, and Midnight Special. All of his movies create such a great atmosphere. Even the world of this movie is something that you feel like you know.
This is about a mid-west biker gang in the 60s, but it's broadly a stand in for how all clubs and gangs evolved. Kathy (Jodie Comer) is our way in as she quickly becomes a part of the Vandals after a chance meeting Benny (Austin Butler). Her story is relayed via interviews along with others in the club. While the interview format makes the action stilted, it also acts as a plot device to quickly impart history and characterization of the club and its members.
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| Jodie Comer, Austin Butler play Kathy, Benny |
Johnny (Tom Hardy) started the club first as a motorcycle racing club. Others wanted to join and soon there are various chapters across the region. The irony is that the various clubs are composed of guys that could
never follow the rules but take the club by-laws as gospel. These are guys that want order, but just not the typical rules of society. Benny has a
strong devotion to the club, even above Kathy. With this interview format, you begin to wonder if Kathy and Benny are still together. Throughout the film Benny is forced to choose between his well being and the club's. He always chooses the club. That's a harbingers for his and Kathy's relationship. Kathy admits she hoped to change him, knowing it's something that rarely happens.
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| Tom Hardy plays Johnny |
The bigger the club and it's branches get, they shift towards violence with newer members. Johnny was always ready to fight, but it was always in the course of protecting the club. Other chapters are violent just as a means of being cruel. The violence gets out of hand with Kathy nearly attacked.
Johnny wants to retire, that or he's concerned about where the club is headed. Johnny had always handled himself and established his leadership, but the club became so much larger, too big for he and Benny to control. When you're Johnny, the head of the Vandals, figuratively if not literally you become a target.
This is an imagined history of a motorcycle gang, but it could be about any group. Individuals that don't fit into society start something and find a place to belong. Criminals also don't fit into society and slowly that original club that was about belonging erodes to criminals that see strength in numbers. This is a story of one such club. Violence overtakes, and what Johnny and Benny had slowly disappears.
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