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Coffee table books are basically a thing of the past. Yes coffee, tables and books still exist but those days of lying out a few books to impress party guests is hard to compete with phones, social media and the ongoing atmosphere of today where very few people want to engage in meaningful conversations. It is a shame because above all else coffee table books were meant to strike up a conversation. Often they were about a time long before and usually only offered up a small inkling of the full story. It is also highly unlikely that the authors or artists behind these books sought out being referred to as “coffee table” books. But nonetheless they were often pieces of art lost in the past. One of these books is Danny Lyon’s “The Bikeriders” a photobook that captured a Chicago motorcycle gang between 1963 to 1967. Lyon’s book (nearly less than a hundred pages) has interviews with former members as well as some significant others, but its real charm comes from the black and white photographs (also taken by Lyon) that shows a group of men and women written off by a prim and proper society. These photos are full of happy faces riding their giant choppers as well as just showing a comradery with their fellow members. You know just from looking at them that they consist of dangerous men, but nonetheless they all seem to carry one thing for one another; love. It was this book that inspired director Jeff Nichols (who as the story goes picked it up off his brother’s coffee table) to make his latest film THE BIKERIDERS. An americana drenched in booze, sweat and regret all put together by a stellar cast and patient filmmaking of a begotten era. Often you’ll hear the argument “they just don’t make them like they used to anymore!” Well THE BIKERIDERS is a double edged sword because yes it shows that this is one of those rare movies that feels like a lost time capsule and yet we are privileged enough to see it in 2024 (after many delays) in a time where we need films like this more than ever. A film riddled with broken men searching for answers through love and community while elsewhere a modern world passes them by never giving them a second thought making them much like Lyon’s book, a thing of the past.

It is impossible not to fall for Benny. At least that is how young Kathy felt. Portrayed by Jodie Comer donning a sixties wig and a fully committed Chicago accent that screams both SNL parody as well as accurate chain smoker renegade. But Kathy is no joke and is not falling just for any old greasy biker as she enters into a dangerous bar where every man looks at her like she’s a freshly painted chopper. Instead Kathy locks in on a mysterious man standing over the pool table. To appreciate the way Jeff Nichols introduces us to Benny and even more so his star Austin Butler, is to be reminded of the first time you laid eyes on James Dean. A high task and even bigger memory, but Nichols using a doo wop song homes in first on Butler’s muscles (already glistening in Adam Stone’s cinematography) then the ripped tank top all the way to his messy blonde as he raises his face and that stoic Butler half smile arises. It is a moment that last twenty seconds tops but feels like an eternity. Butler himself has already become a household name after skyrocketing into fame playing Elvis Presley. But where Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” was all about Butler becoming someone else THE BIKERIDERS is partially a film all about becoming Austin Butler the movie star. After a fearful joyride on his bike Kathy doesn’t know what to think so instead she marries him five weeks later. And thus the journey of THE BIKERIDERS fully begins.

The film itself begun long before as Kathy is being interviewed by Danny (Mike Faist) portraying the real life journalist who fully imbedded himself into the club Gonzo journalist style. Danny is no Hunter S. Thompson but Nichols allows the respected journalist to become a quasi-documentary style to his film jumping between decades and introducing us to members of the club through interviews that are cut right from the source but performed which such sincerity that we feel like we instantly know these men and even if we are slightly terrified we are fully intrigued. Nichols is very much an actors director allowing his largest ensemble yet to be given a respected amount of time. He knows the actors are up to the task and is more than willing to allow them their moments. This includes devoted second in command Brucie (Damon Herriman), comedic duo Corky and Wahoo (Karl Glusman and Beau Knapp respectively), drunken loud mouth Zipco (Michael Shannon) and California boy Cal (Boyd Holbrook) and bug eating family man Cockroach (Emory Cohen) But all of them follow club leader Johnny (Tom Hardy) Hardy is no stranger to obscure accents but what makes his Brando channeling character both terrifying and charming is both an accent that while outlandish is one believable to a man trying to reinvent himself, as well as the calmness which can become volatile all in a split second. It is the kind of role Hardy has become familiar with, but still one that fully shows his range as an actor and more so as a character who is far beyond control of the thing he has created. He is the Doctor Frankenstein to the monster of a club.

Nichols’ film may have some inspiration to its tough guy predecessor film “Goodfellas” between its female narrating vessel as well as its love for 60’s culture involving doo wop music turned rock and roll in the later years. But where “Goodfellas” never had a sincere moment in its men (nor should it have) THE BIKERIDERS is mesmerized by showing us the passionate side of these men with little place to put their energy into. All of it goes into a club that the film (and history) shows did very little. There were occasional races but that turned into straight hangouts which eventually turned into violence, but THE BIKERIDERS still knows these men are trying their hardest (or at least believe they are) to give a piece of themselves when so many rejected them. A pivotal scene involving Michael Shannon’s Zipco complaining about his military rejection from Vietnam plays less like a loud patriot and more like a man who knows he has something to offer but nobody will accept him except for the club. Perhaps that is what makes the character of Benny so appealing outside of charisma. Here is a man who appears to constantly ride the “I don’t give a fuck” cycle, but Butler with his often limited dialogue always shows us a man who wants to let us in on his pain, but any chance of getting too close causes him to ride off. It is a nice change of pace for Butler after a role that required him to be more a rock god in human form. Here Butler lets his loudly revved motorcycle do the talking that it becomes uncomfortable when he is injured and has to take time away from riding. Nichols shows us what happens to lost men when they finally loose the one thing they truly love.

THE BIKERIDERS and Nichols definitely wants to bring back a style of old school filmmaking not seen in quite some decades but one of the film’s strongest appeals is realizing it is not stuck in nostalgia but rather wants to be respected and even more so loved in the same regards. The motorcycle genre was fully birthed with 1953’s “The Wild One” in fact it is this movie that inspires Johnny to start the club to begin with, but the genre which also brought Brando further into cool guy territory had much more to say. THE BIKERIDERS doesn’t wear its influences so much on its sleeve but rather wants you to seek them out yourself. Of course there is “Easy Rider” but it also wants you to recognize “The Loveless” “Streets of Fire” and maybe even “A Place Beyond the Pines.” Hell even this critic wants you to seek out the bonkers (and forgotten) “C. C. and Company” which featured a gang member played by Joe Namath (yes that Joe Namath). But all this love for other films may not be openly spoken in the film, but Nichols and his cast wants you to remember this era and not let those be lost. The film for all its heaviness has great fun as well probably best seen in a fully bearded and stained teeth Norman Reedus as Funny Sonny. In fact one could even assume Reedus was not even cast in the film he simply showed up one day on set and the producers said “fuck it” if we are doing a motorcycle movie we got to have Reedus.

THE BIKERIDERS for all its obsession with forgotten relics is able to hold up its argument as it finds its final footing showing how rebellion is carried through generations. As both Johnny looses control of the club and Benny loses control of himself there is always a younger member or wannabe member waiting to overthrow the king. In pure Shakespearean fashion, art and reality often blend the film ventures into the territory of the old ways having to learn quickly to adapt or die. The film wrestles with both options and often sides with it is okay to fear the young not because one is stuck in their ways but rather far too many try to come up through irrational reactions rather than learned experience. But Nichols combats his own stance in reminding us that Johnny’s club the Vandals never waited for their moment and rather pushed out any older obstacle in their way. But Nichols himself seems like a traveler of the past. A man and a director who wants his work to be part of today but wishes he was of the past. THE BIKERIDERS and all its characters do not know that history will soon forget them and surely Danny Lyon, while acclaimed, never dreamed of his work scattered across a coffee ring stained table. But THE BIKERIDERS knows that many of its members did not live to get to tell their story so maybe much like James Dean’s time in film history, Butler’s portrayal of Benny will hold more weight than we can imagine. If this is his true film star moment (and it is) then it too can be his way of giving us a role we look back on and therefore never forget the Vandals (real club name the Outlaws). THE BIKERIDERS proves that it no longer has to be a thing of the past, but even more so the next time those wonderful drunken nights come up and you’re ready for that blurry vision cigarette, take a quick check at your friends living room table because most likely there’s a piece of history waiting to be revved up once again.

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THE BIKERIDERS FROM FOCUS FEATURES IS NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE