The Bikeriders (2024) (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

Jeff Nichols and Michael Shannon? I'm there.

 

[Alex...]

"Disney is no longer set to release Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders.” New Regency is now looking for a new distribution partner for the film and is considering all release possibilities, including a streaming release."

Disney is No Longer Set to Release ‘The Bikeriders’ — World of Reel

Disney is no longer set to release Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders.” New Regency is now looking for a new distribution partner for the film and is considering all release possibilities, including a streaming release.

www.worldofreel.com

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I've heard various things about this picture, like it needs a new cut to give it a better flow. However, supposedly the acting, particularly Tom Hardy, is outstanding. The trailer is kind of funny because the dialogue seems like it was done to pay tribute to Brando in The Wild One...which obviously seems a bit dated and corny. I want to see it, the talent involved demands that, and so will catch it however it gets released.

I would like to see it in a cinema as it looks like a film I would enjoy on a big screen.

 

[Alex...]

Update:

"Film has been acquired by Focus Features. Focus is taking global rights to the pic, reteaming them with New Regency who they partnered with on 2022’s The Northman. A 2024 theatrical release is planned. Universal will distribute the movie overseas.

Tom Hardy, Austin Butler & Jodie Comer New Regency Pic ‘The Bikeriders’ Zooms Over To Focus Features

EXCLUSIVE: New Regency’s Jeff Nichols directed crime drama The Bikeriders, which was at 20th Century Studios, is getting acquired by Focus Features. Focus is taking global rights to the pic, …

deadline.com

 

[Jake Lipson]

Focus Features also previously worked with Jeff Nichols on his film Loving.

The significance here is that a 2024 theatrical release takes Bikeriders out of awards consideration for 2023, but that's fine. Even before the decision to move it, there hadn't been any trailers or anything. So if it was released this year, it would be rushed out. In this case, releasing next year is probably the best choice.

 

[TravisR]

The significance here is that a 2024 theatrical release takes Bikeriders out of awards consideration for 2023, but that's fine. Even before the decision to move it, there hadn't been any trailers or anything.

Fox put out a trailer and a poster for the original release. I'm sure it wasn't exactly a massive ad campaign so it's easy to see how you missed it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Fox put out a trailer and a poster for the original release.

I stand corrected, then. Thanks.

I go to the movie theater all the time and never saw a single piece of advertising for this from Fox. Weird.

 

[Alex...]

 

[Patrick Sun]

Saw this last night via AMC's Seen Unseen mystery movie rotation.

I'm most "meh" on the film, the film just drifts around lazily, and I didn't really have any characters who hooked me where I cared about them.

 

[Jason_V]

Saw this last night via AMC's Seen Unseen mystery movie rotation.

I'm most "meh" on the film, the film just drifts around lazily, and I didn't really have any characters who hooked me where I cared about them.

Yeah, agreed. We didn't mind it...I might even say I "liked" it, but it's not a movie that has a compelling story as written. It's about a moment in time when the country was changing and that's reflected in a motorcycle club.

I swear Austin Butler gets movie roles because of his name and Oscar nomination, not because they give him anything to do. I want to like him; he's overshadowed by almost everyone else in the film, including Tom Hardy. For me, this is Jodie Comer's movie...she's the one I wanted to follow.

Don't dislike it, our audience seemed into it (aside from the people who continuously talk...this time, people I'd say were in the "senior discount" bracket) and if I had a friend who wanted to watch, I'd watch again. But on my own? Probably not.

 

[Jake Lipson]

How Billy Bob Thornton’s ‘Sling Blade’ Lit An Auteur’s Path For ‘The Bikeriders’ Jeff Nichols: The Film That Lit My Fuse

Watch a video interview with 'The Bikeriders' writer-director Jeff Nichols about his cinematic influences for Deadline's series 'The Film That Lit My Fuse.'

deadline.com

 

[Jake Lipson]

I have seen all of Jeff Nichols' films to date and consider myself a fan of him. I liked all of them to varying degrees except Midnight Special. That one didn't work for me at all. On the other hand, I thought Mud was one of the best movies of the year when it came out.

One of the things I find most interesting about Nichols' choices as a filmmaker is that his movies feel so distinct from each other. He doesn't really have a wheelhouse because he likes to tell. so many different kinds of stories. I never know what subject is going to interest him next, but he keeps making interesting choices. So of course I went to The Bikeriders this weekend. I don't regret seeing it, but I wish it had worked for me better than it did. I don't think this is bad, but it is middling.

Nichols is usually really good at character studies, but I didn't feel like I really got to know these characters in any significant way. The only romantic scene between Kathy and Benny is when they first meet. The movie seems to want us to root for their relationship, but most of their bonding happens off screen.

If the story is supposed to be about Benny choosing between loyalty to Kathy or Johnny, then it would help to know Benny more. Instead, we mostly see Benny through Kathy. And yet it still leaves out a lot of their personal relationship. Hardy as Johnny has the most role of the gang members and he does a good job with it. But Benny being underdeveloped as his own character shortchanges the. conflict. This appears to me to be more a flaw in the writing than anything else. We know Butler is capable of carrying a movie because he did it in Elvis. But he isn't given the opportunity to do that here, to the film's detriment.

I feel like there are some strong ideas and performances in here that could have been in a great film. But it doesn't quite get there, which is unfortunate. It feels like a promising rough draft. But it isn't a draft. Oh well.

Incidentally, the trailer scroll included A Quiet Place: Day One. This isn't shocking; it opens Friday. However, it is sort of ironic because Jeff Nichols was at one point attached to direct that film.

I swear Austin Butler gets movie roles because of his name and Oscar nomination, not because they give him anything to do.

As an aside...Butler will have a lot to do when he plays Danny Ryan. I can't wait for that as I love those books.

Austin Butler Moves From Elvis To Crime Boss Danny Ryan In Sony 3000 Adaptation Of Don Winslow Novel ‘City On Fire’

'Elvis' Star Austin Butler Set To Star In Sony 3000 Adaptation Of Don Winslow Novel 'City On Fire'

deadline.com

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Finally got around to seeing this, and without spoilers I will try to give people an idea of what it is.

Basically, this is a cross between a kind of mood piece, love triangle, 1960s biker film. How this came to be is Mr. Nichols fell in love with a book of photos a guy did in the 1960s of a biker club. So, if the story in the film seems slim, I believe that is because what the film really is trying to do is to turn the photos in the book into moving images. Nichols and his DP actually succeed in doing that in spades.

Nichols adds to this a sort of love triangle, but in reality, that is not played up much. Essentially, the three main characters Johnny, Benny, and Kathy are the triangle. They all love each other, Benny and Kathy as a boyfriend/girlfriend/married couple, and Johnny loves Benny as a best friend. So, the two guys are not competing for the girl, Kathy and Johnny are competing for Benny. Kathy wants him as a husband, Johnny wants him as a comrade and co-leader of the Vandals biker gang. Benny appears to love his motorcycle as much as or more than both of them.

So, yes, this is not a deep or profound story. It's guys loving riding their motorcycles and a woman trying to hang on to one of these guys. The way Nichols found to tell the story was to have the guy that created the photo book he fell in love with be a character in the film that is interviewing Kathy after the glory days of the Vandals have passed. He is trying to find out from her what happened to all of the guys that were in the gang when Johnny ran it. So, each little chapter or vignette essentially begins with Kathy telling the interviewer the beginning of a story and then it plays out in full onscreen, so we see what unfolded.

In a way, what this film kind of reminded me of, was Eddie and the Cruisers. That definitely could have been an influence on this picture. Popular music also plays a sizable part in how this is told. Eddie and the Cruisers probably reveals more about its characters though.

Not only is the story slim, but the characters are basically tissue paper thin. The truth is, they are little more than goodlooking images on the screen. Austin Butler in the pivotal role of Benny does little more than pose throughout the film. He literally is a model for the camera. His character, the focus of both Johnny and Kathy, relates almost nothing about himself except he loves riding his bike.

Johnny, Tom Hardy, as the leader and guy that formed the gang, is basically just that and his primary struggle in the film is figuring out how to run the gang as it gets bigger. So, he's also not a fountain of information or any deeper than a guy that loves riding his bike and hanging out with other guys riding their bikes.

Jodie Comer as the final third of the triangle, Kathy, does a great job with an accent she worked very hard on, but she is mainly the tool the film uses to begin telling each little story. She's sounds great with her accent but the character is not really interesting and we learn little about her other than she loves Benny.

The film has a stacked cast, yes, Michael Shannon is in this as one of the Vandals but honestly, he has almost nothing at all to do. His biggest moment in the film is his character giving a speech around a campfire about trying to join the military. He also looks great in the film but this is the thing here, these character are photo book images brought to life...but they have as much to say as their photos.

The entire thrust of the story is just this, once upon a time there was a time and a place where it was fun to be in a biker gang and you could ride free with the wind in your hair and friends by your side...now that time is gone. That's it. There is nothing more to the story than that.

OK, so here's the thing, I did enjoy it. This is what they label a "hangout" film. You basically just hangout with these characters for the running time. None of them are fascinating, none of them are deep, none of them have much to say. They just exist before our eyes and they look good. Brando's The Wild One does actually make an appearance in the film, Johnny was inspired to start a group after seeing the film on TV. We see him watching it and repeating Brando's lines and honestly, that's as deep as we ever get with Hardy's character. He loves bikes, saw The Wild One, started a riding club.

Now if you are going to have a character like Johnny, where there is not much there on the page, casting Hardy was a great idea. Hardy does bring his character to life and is fun to look at and watch as he tries to sort out running the club. Hardy can give you a lot of character without saying a word. When he does speak, Hardy has also given his character an interesting voice, so he is fun to listen to as well.

Butler tries to do the same, and also looks great onscreen, but the character is a blank...as written. He just is this great looking guy that loves his bike and attracts other people to him through his looks and "pure" behavior...which means he will just do things without thinking about them. He's not the actor Hardy is yet so while he looks good in his leather and jeans and hair swept back...well...there is not much more to him than the look. He speaks his lines mostly softly to give a heighted sense of his "cool."

Shannon is fun, wonderful to watch, magnetic in front of the camera, but he is just a small side character without much to do. Norman Reedus looks great and gives an excellent physical performance as well. You can't fault the performances at all really, but these are two dimensional characters that it is all up to the actors to do something with. They all really do a great job making something out of what they are given...and the wardrobe department makes them look great.

This is a style over substance endeavor, but it does have plenty of style. Beautifully photographed, with all kinds of actors that have excellent physical presence in front of a camera. The weakness of the film is that Nichols had to take a book of beautiful images and try to create characters and a story to go with them and there just is not much there. He did an amazing job turning the still pictures in the book into moving images. Honestly, the job he did with that is awesome.

So, in the end, I think your enjoyment of this film will come down to do you enjoy the style, the beautiful images, and Tom Hardy taking a sort of nothing role and making it hum. It worked for me but if you watch this and walk away saying "Well, that wasn't very interesting." I would not blame you at all.

 

[Timothy E]

The official HTF review of The Bikeriders 4k UHD Combo has been posted HERE.