The Bikeriders is based on a celebrated book with the same title by photojournalist Danny Lyon, who rode with the Chicago Outlaws during the 60s. His images and interviews paint a ground-level view of that experience and, by extrapolation, all of American culture in the Midwest at that time. A universal tenet of art is that the more focused and detailed an account is, the better it scales to reflect larger truths about a culture, and Lyon captured the people of that time and place with great intensity in his book. He was so deeply connected to the MC culture that Hunter Thompson warned him to clear it before something bad happened.
In adapting the book, Nichols took artistic liberties by creating a through-line about the three main characters for structure. The film is an incredible accomplishment in cinematography, editing, an amazing period-specific soundtrack, and, of course, classic motorcycles. That is all wonderful, but the film shines brightest as a result of the incandescent performances of the leads. Hardy always delivers, and he seems to channel Brando here, menacing and vulnerable at the same time. Butler is in a “less is more” mode, with very little dialogue, reminiscent of Ryan Gosling’s character in Drive. His actions speak. Comer is the calm center, and her accent is perfect. It sounds like we’re hearing the firsthand account from Laverne DeFazio from Laverne and Shirley. Hardy also nails the Chicago accent. A massive hat-tip to the supporting cast as well. Shannon, Herriman, Reedus (who is a real motorcycle fanatic), and Holbrook create powerful three-dimensional characters the audience will connect with despite having only sporadic moments of screen time.
Jodie Comer stars as Kathy in Jeff Nichols’ THE BIKERIDERS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features ©2024 All Rights Reserved.
“…an incredible accomplishment in the style of classic cinema…”
This film is set in the classic cinema style. The Wild One is a spot-on reference. The pace is also retro, spooling out deliberately, and the outcomes are not telegraphed. For all the quality elements in the film, there’s reason to wonder how well it will be received. It may not fit the modern attention span expectation of a click-bait adrenaline payoff every few minutes. The Bikeriders takes more of a mature slow-burn to get to the character-driven joy of living through the 60s with an outlaw MC, as Lyon did. The marketing of the film does a great disservice in this respect. The trailers paint The Bikeriders as being The Sopranos on bikes, with Johnny as the villainous ringleader. It is not that, nor is it Hamlet on bikes as in Sons of Anarchy.
To be authentic to the book, Nichols tells a story grounded in reality to paint an indelible, searing image of a moment fixed in time. The best move is to get the book and become immersed in the photos to discover Danny Lyon’s embedded account of real outlaw motorcycle club life and then go see this marvelous film that jumps off from his work.
"…classic cinema style."
