The Bikeriders (2024) * * *

 

Directed by: Jeff Nelson

Starring:  Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Norman Reedus, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Toby Wallace    

The Bikeriders tells the story of a Chicago motorcycle club in the style of Goodfellas or Carlito's Way.  I'm not suggesting it is as good as either movie, but it draws favorable comparisons.  I was reminded of these classic crime dramas while watching The Bikeriders, which is a compliment.  

Sure, The Bikeriders has its flaws.  Jodie Comer's over-the-top Midwestern accent is a distraction, especially while narrating her story of how fell in love with Benny (Butler), a member of the Vandals motorcycle club.  She's no Karen Hill.   In the beginning of The Bikeriders, Benny is sitting at a bar nursing a beer when two toughs tell him not to wear "his colors" in there.  Benny unequivocally states that he won't and is beaten to within an inch of his life.   The movie then backtracks to the origins of the Vandals and introduces us to the characters.  

There's the Vandals' leader Johnny (Hardy), a man who says what he means and means what he says.  He has a full-time job and a family, which we rarely see, but what he says goes when it comes to the Vandals.  If you want to usurp his leadership, you have to challenge him.  Johnny casually says, "Fists or knives," as if he has been through more challenges then the movie even cares to show us.  Hardy's performance keeps The Bikeriders going.  He is the soul of the movie, someone we are drawn to, and his story arc takes on elements of tragedy...and Carlito's Way.  

One of Johnny's young challengers is a punk (Wallace) who is rebuffed by Johnny when he expresses a desire to join the Vandals.   Any allusion to Benny Blanco from the Bronx is surely not coincidental.  One of the pleasures of watching The Bikeriders is how it incorporates writer-director Jeff Nelson's love for those aforementioned crime movies.  Those elements are the best parts of The Bikeriders.  

Based loosely on a book by Danny Lyon, who was embedded with the gang over many years, The Bikeriders features Danny (Faist) interviewing the group's members and mostly Kathy (Comer), who marries Benny soon after meeting him in the Vandals' hangout bar.  If Kathy is no Karen Hill, Benny is no Henry Hill.  Butler is rarely seen without a cigarette dangling from his lips, and speaks fewer words than almost any lead with a speaking part in recent memory.  He is all presence, but not necessarily a fascinating one.  Johnny derived inspiration for starting the Vandals after watching Marlon Brando in The Wild One.  Benny could easily have answered, "What do you got?" when asked what he's rebelling against, but we'd much rather spend time with Johnny than any of these other guys.