How movies go from concept to delivery is a wonder. There are so many moving parts and so many variables that any one of them can derail the project. A case in point is the film THE BIKERIDERS. Inspired by the 1968 photobook of the same name by Danny Lyon, the idea for the film first came to director Jeff Nichols (LOVING) after he read the book in 2003. Spurred on by actor Michael Shannon (THE CURRENT WAR; THE SHAPE OF WATER), who has starred in all of Nichols’ films, Nichols finally wrote a screenplay in 2022. He then found a studio and an exceptional cast, and the film was made. It premiered at Telluride in August 2023 and it was supposed to be released theatrically in December but the SAG-ACTRA strike, which ended in November, meant that the cast couldn’t promote the film. By this point, the distributor lost interest and started to shop the film around. Fortunately, they were able to find a new distributor and the film finally made it to the cinema just a few weeks ago.

It’s 1965 and Danny Lyon (Mike Faist, CHALLENGERS) is working on a book about the Chicago-based Vandals Motorcycle Club. His entrée (and ours) into that world is Kathy Bauer (Jodie Comer, FREE GUY), a young divorcée who meets and immediately falls for Benny (Austin Butler, DUNE: PART TWO; ELVIS), the handsome and brooding newest member of the club. Through Benny, Kathy gets to know the club’s other members including its founder, Johnny Davis (Tom Hardy, the VENOM movies), Zipco (Shannon), Brucie (Damon Herriman, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD), Cal (Boyd Holbrook, INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY) and others. Over the next eight years, external and internal forces reshape both the club and the country into something that Kathy, Benny and Johnny probably never envisioned back in 1965.

There is a lot that’s really good about THE BIKERIDERS beginning with the performances. Comer, who is British, does a brilliant midwesterm accent. She is also incredibly engaging to watch, using her eyes to tell us so much about who Kathy is. Butler, too, does excellent work here, channeling his inner James Dean, which I’m sure was intentional as Benny would have identified with Jim Stark from REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, though Benny doesn’t seem to be as troubled or as mischievous as Stark was. But even Benny’s looks are reminiscent of Stark’s. Similarly, Hardy, who always delivers the goods, channels his inner Marlon Brando and one scene in the movie even shows Johnny watching THE WILD ONE on TV. The film also succeeds in giving audiences a peek into that vanished world, the people who lived there and the lives they led.

Where the film doesn’t work is with its structure. The story goes in and out with Kathy telling Danny some new anecdote about the club before flashing back to the event. It’s an interesting narration style but it ends up disengaging the audience from being immersed in that world. Imagine going for a swim under water where all you can hear is your heart beating and then coming up to the surface to a world of noise. That’s how this movie is. It would have been much more effective if Kathy would have kicked off the story in 1973 and then let the characters take it from there. All in all, though, THE BIKERIDERS is still a good film and well worth watching. It’s just not as good as it could have been.

THE BIKERIDERS is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. Although I enjoyed it, I can’t help but think that the whole was less than the sum of its parts.

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