"The Bikeriders," Jeff Nichols' latest film, is based on a 1968 photo book by Danny Lyon in which the photographer chronicles the lives of a motorcycle club as they cruise through the Midwest.
With a photo book you're free to drop in and out, to browse at your leisure. There's a narrative there, but it's loose.
Movies are more of a start-to-finish proposition (though I suppose streaming offers some of the same flexibility). "The Bikeriders" — the film version, a star-studded affair with Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy — is more compelling (and it's plenty compelling) when thought of like the book. Individual scenes and characters draw you in and make you want to spend time in the world Nichols has painstakingly created. That makes it absolutely worth the price of admission. But the overall journey, about the rise and not-quite fall of a motorcycle club, is less interesting.
What club is 'The Bikeriders' about?
Mike Faist plays Danny, who, when we meet him, is basically embedded with the Vandals, a motorcycle club led by Johnny (Hardy), a married truck driver who was inspired when he saw Marlin Brando in "The Wild One." It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to show a scene from a classic, and what a scene it is: when Brando's Johnny is asked what he's rebelling against, he says, "Whaddya got?" Teen revolt in a single sentence.
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At first, Johnny isn't really rebelling against anything. He just wants to hang out and ride with his friends. Sure, they drink and fight, though in such a matter-of-fact way that if you asked them why they'd probably say, "Who doesn't?"
One day, a friend drags Kathy (Jodie Comer) into a bar where the Vandals hang out. She's appalled until she spots Benny (Butler). The next thing you know she's on the back of his motorcycle, roaring away. The next thing you know after that, they're married. His devotion to his marriage and to his club provides a lot of the tension in the film. If Johnny thought that as leader of a motorcycle club he could strong-arm Benny's devotion, he finds out Kathy is as tough as any leather-clad biker on the road.
The film is told through flashbacks of Danny interviewing Kathy. Comer, an Emmy winner for "Killing Eve" and a Tony winner for "Prima Facie," is typically excellent as a woman who is at times bemused by her husband and his friends, sometimes frustrated, and occasionally endangered. She remains attracted to Benny throughout, sometimes to her own consternation.
Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy go all in on accents
And now, a word about the accents. Comer and Hardy are brilliant, committed actors. They're also British. "The Bikeriders" takes place outside of Chicago. To say they go all in on Midwestern accents is to understate the case considerably. They would be at home in one of the old "Da Bears" skits on "Saturday Night Live."
The club is littered with intriguing characters. The great Michael Shannon, a Nichols regular (he's so great in "Midnight Special" and "Take Shelter"), plays Zipco, whose rejection from the Army has left him disillusioned and mostly drunk. co*ckroach (Emory Cohen) loves the club, probably too much. Norman Reedus' Funny Sunny shows up from California with the most disgusting set of teeth I think I've ever seen and a mission. My favorite performance of the bunch might be by Boyd Holbrook as the club's mechanic, who always seems like he's in on some kind of joke.
The club grows in popularity. Soon other cities and towns start their own chapters. It's not welcome competition, though one big fight scene is particularly entertaining. Violence is a way of life for these men, the way they solve problems. Kathy worries about Benny. He's an aimless sort, a rather blank kind of fellow. He just wants to ride. She wants to grow up and have a life, a life with Benny. But his life is roaring down the highway in Vandals colors.
The thing is, we don't care so much about the growth of the club. The performances, Comer as Kathy in particular, are what grab us. It's sort of like gathering a group of the world's best performers and having them act out an old biker movie.
The whole isn't quite as interesting as the sum of its parts, is another way to put it. The parts, though, are quite good on their own.
'Midnight Special' review:A weird and satisfying movie
'The Bikeriders' 3.5 stars
Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★
Fair ★★★ Bad ★★Bomb★
Director: Jeff Nichols.
Cast: Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy.
Rating: R for language throughout, violence, some drug use and brief sexuality.
How to watch: In theaters Friday, June 21.
Reach Goodykoontz atbill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook:facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X:@goodyk. Subscribe tothe weekly movies newsletter.
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