Welcome to Dudes Rock Cinema
Plus, we review this weekend's new release "The Bikeriders"
Today’s newsletter is all about guys being dudes. One of our constant fascinations is the Dudes Rock movie, a subgenre for (mostly) harmless male camaraderie and good vibes. On this week’s podcast, we were joined by frequent guest Kenny Ashton and our intro music creator Ryan Jenkins to define, understand, and celebrate Dudes Rock movies.
Throughout the conversation we toss out our favorite Dudes Rock examples while working toward a shared definition of the subgenre. So, pour a drink, text your bros, and join us for a journey into Dudes Rock canon. The vibes are immaculate in this one. (Also, check out our Letterboxd list of every movie mentioned in this episode.)
Apple Podcasts:
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The Bikeriders review
The latest movie to enter the Dudes Rock discussion is The Bikeriders, out in theaters today. We have been highly anticipating this biker drama starring Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, and Austin Butler for a while now. Read each of our reviews below (no spoilers, except a brief section noted in Billy’s review), and see it in theaters this weekend!
Drew: Director Jeff Nichols has said his movies always start with a single image, like a man standing outside a storm shelter (Take Shelter) or a boat in a tree (Mud). So it makes sense that he wrote and directed The Bikeriders based on a 1967 photobook capturing an outlaw Chicago motorcycle club. The images that Nichols crafts in this movie are some of his most striking to date, and the performances from his cast of movie stars are equally memorable. The Bikeriders introduces you to an intoxicating bygone era of rough but honorable outcasts just as a more cynical and violent moment is arriving.
The good time 1960s curdling into the disillusioned 1970s is a story we’ve seen before, but a Midwestern biker gang does feel like a fresh angle into it. Nichols, doing his version of Scorsese, starts the movie fast and fun (the hair on my arms stood up during the exhilarating opening scene) before merging into a more thoughtful, mournful lane.
The three central performances are ultimately what will draw audiences in or leave them cold: Tom Hardy gets to go deep into character voicework and physical presence like he loves to do, Austin Butler receives and takes advantage of the full movie star treatment from Nichols, but The Bikeriders is ultimately Jodie Comer’s movie. She’s the audience surrogate as she enters this seductive and dangerous world. Comer gets to have fun with a Chicago accent while also building an empathetic and grounded character. While the bikers all pretend to be Marlon Brando – Hardy’s character starts the club after watching Brando in The Wild One – Comer’s character has a more realistic outlook on the group’s rules, lifestyle, and future.
There’s pros and cons to adapting a movie from source material as light as a book of photographs. While the images are strong, character depth is not necessarily a strong suit here. However, The Bikeriders comes to be about more than only these figures. In addition to a riveting perspective on mid-century America’s changing times, it’s an affecting depiction of rejects and undesirables finding their community on the back of a motorcycle.
4.5 / 5 Apples
Billy: An opening homage that drops you right into the obvious inspiration from the jump left me in chills and fearful. You plant your flag there you might as well make everyone in the audience gear up to be disappointed. The Bikeriders is a very Midwestern look at the gangster genre. It follows a biker gang called the Vandals MC that was never meant to get this out of control.
The film stars a trio of Jodie Comer (Kathy Cross), Austin Butler (Benny Cross), and Tom Hardy (Johnny). Benny, a lost soul who only feels free and finds meaning in… well, freedom. Kathy, a sheltered but fierce woman who can take care of herself and always seems to put trust in the right people. And Johnny, a simple man who cohesively blends his submissive domestic persona with his bold image amongst da boiz. The Bikeriders threw me a bit because of the consistent virtue with our leads. A generation that is finally questioning their “Midwest values,” but their attempts to escape seem feeble at best. Don’t get me wrong, the Vandals create real danger, but the “good ole boy” in them can’t live in a space that has these blurred lines. The Vandals are meant to be a certain way and that original intent is fading fast.
When the group begins to expand nationwide and a younger generation grows older. Their “fuck the man” attitude begins to turn inward by literally challenging the original authority, Johnny, who throughout most of the runtime is trying to pass along his legacy to the only member who truly embodies what the Vandals MC is meant to be, Benny.
*Spoilers ahead*
Kathy and Johnny have different views on what Benny’s truth should be. Kathy understandably wants Benny to get away from the danger while still being her bad boy in spirit at home. And Johnny wants him to stay a Vandal and lead the group forward, and if he doesn’t then at least fucking ride, man. After a harrowing 15-20 minutes Benny and Johnny are fearful for the safety of their friend “Cockroach” and take unconventional methods to protect their friend. Benny utters something like, “Is this who we are now?” And Johnny begins to see certain inevitability.
*No more spoilers*
The Vandals are now stronger than ever, but it is ready to forget its origin. Like the younger Vandals, Nichols opens with an acknowledgment to what came before, but quickly wants you to forget that and embrace the current story being told. Comer, Butler, and Hardy are absolutely magnificent in their roles, Nichols is still the fucking man, and The Bikeriders blew me away. As I have mentioned many times, Nichols is one of my directors. A humanistic filmmaker that adds humanity to the gangster genre. The humanity created may be unwarranted, because these are still nasty men, but a unique depth lasts throughout the whole runtime. Welcome back Jeff, I’m glad you left the third A Quiet Place behind for this.
4 / 5 Apples
Links
RIP Donald Sutherland, a mainstay in film and TV since the 1960s. Whether in classic early roles like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Klute, and Don’t Look Now or elder statesman roles like President Snow in The Hunger Games, Sutherland was a talented and unique presence.
Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis finally has a distributor! Lionsgate stepped up to take on the passion project slated for release on September 27 in theaters and IMAX.
“Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge.” To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, The Ringer interviewed Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and more for an oral history.