The Bikeriders is a Throwback in Many Different Ways

Focus Features

New film by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud) The Bikeriders harkens back to the auteur-driven films of the New Hollywood from the 1960s and '70s both in its setting and subject matter. It is a film more interested in mood and character than big ideas or action set pieces. And while it contains admirable filmmaking, it doesn't quite reach the heights of the best that this genre can provide. That said, it is nice to see a film of this type in theaters again.

Based on Danny Lyon's book, written while traveling with a group of bikers from 1967 to 1973, the film follows Lyon (played by Mike Faist) as he interviews various members of The Vandals, a Chicago based biker community, in particular the strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) and her husband Benny (Austin Butler, channeling Brando with every ounce of his being). As the years move on, the community grows, and more violent and dangerous people get involved, challenging the authority of the group's mysterious leader Johnny (Tom Hardy).

Nichols is clearly inspired by the films of Martin Scorsese, both in his rapid editing and roaming camera as well as the film's messages about American masculinity and the appeal of watching a tight-knit group of unsavory characters. However, it never reaches the entertaining levels of those particular films. The story of bike gangs as a kind of haven for society's outsiders is always intriguing, but this film doesn't really say anything different from what so many other films in the genre have already said.

Directed by Jeff Nichols // Inspired by the book by Danny Lyon // Starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Mike Faist, Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, Michael Abbott Jr., Damon Herriman, Emory Cohen, Karl Glusman, Toby Wallace, Paul Sparks, Beau Knapp, Happy Anderson, and Norman Reedus //Focus Features // 116 minutes // Rated R