Tuesday, June 25, 2024

The Bikeriders

Tom Hardy plays his character, Johnny like he was Marlon Brando in, "The Wild One." A kind of nonchalant, "Hey, don't fucking worry about it" emanates from his slouched posture. I read Tom Wolfe's "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" when I was in high school. It was the first time I had discovered the world of the Hell's Angels motorcycle club: the Merry Prankers bringing Acid to the world of outlaw bikers. I followed it up with Hunter Thompson's "Hell's Angels." Real life Hell's Angel, Sonny Barger, is featured in both texts. His likeness shows up in this film as Funny Sonny, played by bike riding, "The Walking Dead's" own,  Norman Reedus. Michael Shannon even has a small role as a biker with some, perhaps, mental health issues. But its stars,  Austin Butler (my favourite "Elvis") and his wife, Kathy, played by Jodie Comer are really something fine. Butler has youth and charm and swagger. And Comer, well she seems to be channeling Winona Ryder - and I mean this in the best possible way. Not a whole lot happens in "The Bikeriders" but it has a "Goodfellas" quality to it, and it kept me glued to it. These were the bikers from the books I read. They seemed like the real deal. Go take a ride and catch this bad ass movie in theatres now. 

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