Martin's Musings

Watching The Bikeriders, it’s hard to know what writer/director Jeff Nichols had in mind.

The film’s first third is kind of like an unintentionally comedic take on Goodfellas, with Nichols introducing us to a crew of bikers, each with one wacky nickname after another. There’s Cockroach, Funny Sonny, Big Jack, Wahoo … you get the idea. Meanwhile, while classic 1960s tunes play on the soundtrack, Jodie Comer’s Kathy sets up the story in what may be the heaviest Midwestern accent you’ll ever hear — or maybe it just seems that way because nobody else in the film is using one. 

It’s the mid-1960s, and Kathy is telling us about a gang in Chicago called the Vandals, which is led by Johnny (Tom Hardy, The Dark Knight Rises), whose second-in-command, Benny (Austin Butler), Kathy falls for instantly. And who could blame her? As portrayed by Butler, Benny is the coolest one in any of the rooms. Good looking, soft-spoken … the strong, silent type.