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Austin Butler stars in a scene from the movie "The Bikeriders." The OSV News classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. (OSV News photo/courtesy Focus Features)

Movie Review: ‘The Bikeriders’


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OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews

NEW YORK (OSV News) — Raw mayhem fuels “The Bikeriders” (Focus), a fact-based drama about the rise and fall of a Chicago motorcycle gang over the 1960s and early 70s. Accordingly, only those prepared to take on challenging material should patronize this well-crafted but roisterous production.

Writer-director Jeff Nichols’ adaptation of photojournalist Danny Lyon’s book takes viewers inside the world of the Vandals, a fictional version of the real-life Outlaws, which Lyons joined in 1963. Entree to this unstable milieu is provided by interviews Lyons’ on screen counterpart (Mike Faist) conducts with a woman member, Kathy (Jodie Comer).

As she recounts, her first contact with the Vandals was accidental and her initial reaction to their characteristic rowdiness was discomfort. But then Kathy spotted her future husband, Benny (Austin Butler), and it was love at first sight.

Bound to the club through her marriage, yet wary of the Vandals’ thrill-seeking, sensible Kathy serves as a witness to the band’s gradual deterioration. As Johnny (Tom Hardy), its quietly charismatic founding leader, loses his grip on power, outsiders increasingly intrude, eventually transforming the Vandals from a refuge for misfits to a ruthless criminal enterprise.

Comer gives a memorable performance in the role of a fundamentally decent person whose limited cultural background is offset by keen observation and a deep reservoir of common sense. In her determination to save Benny from being lost in the Vandals’ downward spiral, she uses her robust emotional power to battle Johnny for control of her spouse’s destiny.

With Kathy serving as its guiding spirit, the movie’s moral compass remains steady. Yet its depiction of a gritty subculture in which harsh brawling is a favorite pastime makes “The Bikeriders” an exacting experience even for grown-ups.

The film contains much graphic violence, including attempted rape, drug use, cohabitation, several uses of profanity, a few milder oaths, pervasive rough language and frequent crude and crass talk. The OSV News classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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