Austin Butler and Tom Hardy as Bikers: Why The Bikeriders is one of the best movies to hit theaters in 2024?

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At a bar in town, Katie, a young woman with a strong temper, meets Benny, who has just joined the Vandal biker gang, and immediately falls under his spell. Like the whole country, the gang, led by the mysterious John, gradually develops… While the bikers welcomed everyone who had trouble finding a place in society, the Vandals became a gang of shameless thugs. Ben will then have to choose between his loyalty to Katie and the gang.

3 good reasons to see ‘The Bikeriders’

argument “This is a new movie Jeff Nichols“ He could stand on his own. Because he is one of the best American directors who keeps a close eye on his country and its history, with a special focus on human connections. And we haven’t heard from him, cinematically speaking, since 2017 and the release of Loving.

Eternity is enough to say when we talk about such a dear author, whether he is down to earth (mud, loving) or with a more or less pronounced flirtation with the fantastic (get asylum visions or science fiction). midnight special). If that’s not enough to convince you, here are three more arguments.

1 – Based on a true story… or nearly so

The biker gang that inspired the film did exist. And it’s still around, serving as the arch-rival of the Hell’s Angels, with clashes now deadly, as Jeff Nichols tells us when we talk to him about his new film in Paris. A feature film based on a photo book titled “Cyclists” and signed Danny Lyon.

If the characters bear, for the most part, the same names as the author’s models, the story the feature film tells is not really theirs. Because Jeff Nichols relied on this prime material to realize one of his dreams: revisiting the fortunes of a 1960s American biker gang, a time of fictional history rooted in reality.

The photos show the details of how they look, dress and make a motorcycle. But the interviews that Danny has done, which are really unfiltered, give you the psychology behind all these people. It was fascinating

“I discovered the book in 2003”– the film director tells us. “It was an expanded edition, which Danny Lyon didn’t like as much as I later found out. But I preferred the cover. And luckily, he had color photos where the previous version was just black and white. There was also a second foreword he wrote, in which One section broke.

“He said: ‘This club no longer exists. We’re called the old outlaws now, and it’s the end of the golden age of motorcycling.” That idea came to me and gave shape to the film: The History of Motorcycling in the 60s, but Dan was more interesting than just the photos.”

“The photos show details of how they look, how they dress and how they build their bikes. But the interviews he does, which are really unfiltered, give you the psychology of all these people. It was fascinating.” That’s why Bikeriders is not a biopic, but a snapshot of an era and a way of life. Literally, as it relies on the point of view of the character Danny Lyon (Mike Feist) to tell the story.

2 – Molding the rear wheels on the road to talent

In the Challengers spotlight, Mike Feist now plays the role of an observer. Because he was entrusted with the role of the author of the book by Jeff Nichols “Cyclists“, Danny Lyon, who acts as a witness on the screen of these bikers. A narrative process that is certainly classic, but very effective, where the actor revealed by Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is one of the stars of the casting.

And where Austin Butler competes with another American icon after Elvis: Marlon Brando, whom The Bikeriders openly references Laszlo Benedek’s Wild Team as the club’s starting point. Along with an actress who proves her status as a potential star without impressing the posers, we find another rising star: Jodie Comer, one of the rare feminine touches in a story where masculinity is also a subject.

Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman (Charles Manson Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, who was discipled by a certain… Austin Butler) and Emory Cohen are also there. As does Tom Hardy, whose rugged side and natural authority are perfectly at home in this world, where his character, the gang’s creator, shines with his loyalty.

An already classy cast, complemented by a handsomely dirty Norman Reedus as a biker from another gang, and Jeff Nichols’ favorite actor, Michael Shannon. It’s often funny when he’s not attractive during the scene around the fire. And which, accordingly, is present in the director’s six feature films.

3 – One of the best movies of 2024?

We might not beat it: As the first half of 2024 wraps up, The Bikeriders is at the top of the list of movies in theaters. In addition to being clever, because if its first scenes can remind me of a Martin Scorsese movie (with voice-overs and freeze-frames), it risks degrading “was released bikers” According to some, the feature film manages to stand out from it.

With icons of its characters (Ben, played by Austin Butler), but not archetypes or glossy figures. Rather, real characters, fleshed out, raw and full of flaws and contradictions that help immerse the viewer in this world and this era. Far from glorifying their actions, Jeff Nichols plays the nuanced card, relying on two points of view: that of Danny, the journalist responsible for documenting the group’s life, and that of Cathy (Jodie Comer).

Ben’s wife, she helps the feature film gain perspective on its subject. A better telling of the end of illusions (set alongside the Vietnam War that then destroyed the United States) along with the exploration of masculinity, violence, friendship and freedom, the main theme of this journey that seduces so many. On a visual level, thanks to what he says and the people he does it with.

Without revolutionizing anything, Jeff Nichols once again shows America through his lens. Armed with the weight of words and the shock of photographs, it never talks too much or too little and manages to avoid the pitfalls that many biker (or gang, for short) films have fallen into. At that price, we’re willing to wait another seven years for our next film, if it’s of the same quality.

Commentary collected by Maximilien Pierret in Paris on June 5, 2024