One of the best character driven dramas in recent memory, Jeff Nichols new film THE BIKERIDERS plays like a mashup of "Almost Famous" and "On the Waterfront" with a major splash of "Easy Rider" for flavor.
Based on the 1968 book by photojournalist Danny Lyon, who embedded himself with the real Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club, we see the gang's early roots form almost by accident.
Johnny (Tom Hardy) races motorcycles with his buddies while living an everyday life as a truck driver. Suburban home, wife, two kids. But watching Marlon Brando on his tiny black and white TV offer to rebel against "whatever ya got", he's inspired to create the riding club.
Hardy's right hand man is Benny, the younger man effortlessly being the free-spirited rider that everyone else wants to be. But Benny's not trying, he just IS.
Austin Butler (Dune, Elvis) turns in a much quieter performance than in those two films, but he's still the blazing hot core of the story and the movie. Butler oozes more cool style on film than anyone I can think of since Steve McQueen in "Bullitt".
Quiet, brooding and watching life revolve around him, Butler's Benny is a force.
Suburbanite Kathy (Jodie Comer in a sure to be nominated performance) is a quiet "respectable" young woman who wanders into a Chicago bar to meet a friend on a night that the entire joint is packed with the Outlaws.
She's terrified, until she sees Benny. He circles her like a panther and then closes in to speak. Moments later, Kathy is on the back of his bike and her life is forever changed.
Comer is beyond great in the role. Her English accent is buried somewhere very far under the most Chicago accent ever captured. Comer's Kathy is hilarious, completely transparent and the kind of person you would want to talk with for hours.
That's exactly what photojournalist Danny does, starting with photos and then hours of reel to reel recordings of conversations with Kathy and the gang members. Mike Faist (Challengers, West Side Story) is our surrogate in the film as Danny, soaking up an emerging sixties culture that's exploding all around him during the very moments that it's created.
The supporting cast is flawless.
Nichols regular Michael Shannon is Zipco, finding a booze fueled middle ground as a rejected wannabe soldier railing against the military and the hippies that oppose it, while also despising college students. Shannon is brilliant as always, slurring his way through stories that crack the gang up around the campfire.
Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) is startling as Funny Sonny, a California biker who looks like he hasn't taken a bath since high school. His teeth are a thing of wonder, black, slimy and scary as hell. Funny Sonny is a dangerous brand of loyalty to have at your side.
Toby Wallace is menacing as a younger version of Johnny, lurking in the shadows as the inevitable challenger to his throne as leader of the Outlaws.
Writer/Director Nichols has created some fantastic films that I've loved. Both "Midnight Special" and "Take Shelter" were disturbing rifts on traditional genre pictures. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he's turned a genre biker picture into a powerful drama loaded with characters you'll care about. But beyond that, he's loaded the first half of the film with laughs, family drama, relationships and trust. The back half of the film, as Kathy's narration becomes less frequent and the tone shifts to more serious, explodes with all the confrontation and violence that power can bring.
Hardy is excellent. Comer is beyond that. A quiet afternoon verbal showdown between Kathy and Johnny is jaw dropping. She's fire and brimstone, loud, passionate. He's stoic, listening and reluctant to open up. It's fantastic.
But my favorite scene in the movie is a night time conversation on the street between Johnny, realizing he's getting too old and that the gang has grown beyond him, as he talks to Benny, who he's trying to get to assume his role.
Butler and Hardy square off in near silence, distant train horns floating in as they confront each other. For what seems like minutes, it's just tension and the sound of Hardy's leather jacket squeaking around his imposing frame.
There are superb vistas of motorcycles rumbling toward and around you, one massive and hilarious picnic that breaks out into an old western saloon fight, but for me, the true power of the film are in those quiet scenes that elevate the entire film far beyond a biker movie.
THE BIKERIDERS is a showcase of writing and acting that sings, no matter what gear it's in along the journey. It gets an A.
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