Film Review: ‘The Bikeriders’ Rides High on Movie Star Charm

Told in a non-linear fashion, the framing device for the film is a series of interviews with Jodie Comer’s character, a Chicago native named Cathy. These interviews are conducted by Mike Faist, who audiences will recognize from Challengers earlier this year. Cathy opens the film by recounting when she first met the Chicago Vandals biker gang, including her soon-to-be husband Benny. Austin Butler silently smoulders as the rough-and-tumble Benny, a man of few words and even fewer emotions.

Butler can easily capture the audience’s eye and imagination, emitting an aura of danger and unkempt cool. Jeff Nichols recognizes the powerful image of the wind in Benny’s hair on the open road, all the ideals (and flaws) of the independent American man are evident in his performance.

The Bikeriders is a film that interrogates American mythology of the late 20th century. Based on a photography book of the same name by Danny Lyon, Nichols goes beyond imagery and explores the image-obsessed pathos of American masculinity. When Faist’s photographer character asks Cathy how the club started, she recalls a story of founder Johnny (Tom Hardy) seeing Marlon Brando’s The Wild One on television and becoming inspired by the leather jacket-wearing biker character. 

Nichols keeps the film conversing with the overtly masculine images he crafts, most clearly with the complex bond between Johnny and Benny. The story takes on the patina of a love triangle, with Cathy and Johnny both vying for the steady bedrock of Benny. 

As the years go on, the gang attracts more people uninterested in conforming to societal norms. Johnny, ultimately a simple family man, recognizes that Benny is more representative of what the Vandals are becoming. Here, Nichols effectively pins the counter-cultural tide on Benny, as he flees this responsibility right as things take a turn for the worse for the gang.

The stand-out performance of the film is Tom Hardy. He plays Johnny as a deeply passionate but reserved man. Initial concerns that the accent work may be heavy-handed melt away, and Hardy reminds us of his character actor strengths emboldened by leading man charisma. His saddened resignation in the third act is some of the greatest subtle performance work of the year.

Comer maintains a memorable presence across the film, her brassy Chicago persona shining against the tough-guy acts put on by her male co-stars. While her narration is entertaining on its own, it’s her scenes shared with either Butler or Hardy that put her best work on display. She wrestles with her attraction to Benny, her frustration with Johnny, and her confusion as to why it is these men care so much about their motorcycle club. 

That ‘Why?’ becomes clearer as we are introduced to more of the supporting cast. Frequent Nichols’ collaborator Michael Shannon plays Zipco, a half-deaf biker who wears his anger on his leather-clad sleeve. In a key scene around a campfire, Shannon caps off a story about his Vietnam draft rejection by repeating “They didn’t want me, man.” 

That is, ultimately, the conclusion the film comes to about this sect of the counterculture. Driven away from broken homes or suburban bemusement, these men seek out a space where they can feel community. In a refusal to acknowledge this, the toxicity of the space grows, eventually devolving the group into a criminal gang. Our merry band of beatniks and bug-eaters (watch the movie to explain that one) get a Stand By Me style narrated send-off, and Butler and Comer steal the show in a wordless moment of grand emotional catharsis.

The Bikeriders checks all the boxes for a starry, exciting drama. From biker brawls to high-speed chases, it has plenty of what audiences hope to see. But with nuanced performers and an experienced hand like Nichols at the wheel, there’s plenty of material to digest afterward. You can see the film in theaters now.