There's so much true star power in The Bikeriders. People like Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and Jodie Comer lead the cast in the main roles. Supporting roles are filled with names like Norman Reedus and Michael Shannon. With all of those people, you'd think anyone would have a hard time making a bad movie. That's true when it comes to The Bikeriders, but its director, Jeff Nichols, did not manage to make a great movie either.
The fault isn't in Nichols - he too is a brilliant artist, who made excellent films like Mud or Midnight Special. His scope and interests are extensive, which is why he chose a proto-bike gang story as his main theme for this film. Set in the middle of the 20th century, The Bikeriders tells the tale of the older Johnny and the younger Benny as they ride their beloved bikes, drink beers, and slowly turn into a violent criminal venture.
Now, there's a lot of space in the public imagination when it comes to outlaw bikers. Sons of Anarchy created a pop-culture niche all on its own. But, The Bikeriders feels most similar in my view to Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. This book was written by Hunter S. Thompson and also shows an interesting but deeply unsettling look into the world and minds of bike gang members. Comer's female perspective was likely a way to make the film more appealing and unexpected in its narrative delivery, but it didn't move it far from its basic premise of complicated dudes on powerful bikes.
In Thompson's book, just like in Nichols' film, there is a sense of authenticity and the stories of characters do grip the audience, but only as individual vignettes. As a whole, The Bikeriders doesn't resonate as a documentary piece, while as a fictional tale, it drives the viewers around but in the end, doesn't take you anywhere. I guess some films are about the journey, and not the destination.
