The Bikeriders – Film Review
by Frank L

Director – Jeff Nichols
Writer – Jeff Nichols
Stars – Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy

In 1967, Danny Lyon published a photobook entitled “The Bikeriders”. It chronicled the happenings of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club. It is the inspiration for Nichols’ motorcycle club who are called “The Vandals”.  Nichols’ film tracks the evolution of a motorcycle club where men, mostly young, gather. They are outsiders. The work that they do for a living is not a prominent part of their lives. The club provides substance to their existence. It is where they can express themselves.

Nichols casts Mike Faist as Danny, the photographer, so that is the vehicle by which the story of the club is told. Kathy (Jodie Comer) reminisces how she became involved with the club through a chance meeting with Benny (Austin Butler) in a bar where the members played pool, drank beer and were laddish. This is all shown in flashbacks. Benny was a particularly fearless member and Kathy was smitten by him. She relates that they were married within five weeks of their first encounter.

The club consists of a collection of characters with names such as Cockroach. Their leader is Johnny (Tom Hardy) who is older than the rest. Nichols tracks the club over a number of years and it gradually becomes infiltrated by members who are far more sinister and live firmly on the violent side. It moves from documenting a feckless, but equally harmless group of young men with time on their hands to a world where life is disposable.

Butler and Comer are well-matched and it is easy to see how each of them became obsessed by the other from their first encounter. Their relationship gives an unlikely ballast to the increasing violence which gradually begins to surround them as the club transforms. Hardy as Johnny is the strong man of the club. He is an enigmatic figure and it is difficult to discern what quality or qualities he has to make him the leader. The new more violent members of the club sense this. He is therefore vulnerable.

The cinematography of bikers en masse cruising along or arriving at a location and circling around is impressive and intimidating. This is heightened by the attire of black leather which is the uniform of choice that these young dudes wear. It intensifies the sinister nature of the club as it transforms into a criminal gang.

Set as it is in the sixties, there is a nostalgic sense of a time past. A time when the culture of youth was making its own rules and breaking free. There are no intrusions from mobile phones or the internet. People interact by means of physical contact. It is a film that brings into three dimensions a sub-culture with a wider fascination than that of its immediate adherents. Danny Lyons’ photobook has laid the groundwork. Nichols gives it a new dimension with this fine work.