The motorcycle clubs during the 60s had so much impact in society back then, often identify as rebels, director Jeff Nichols brings us his vision of what a love and action story during those days would look like. The movie is based on Danny Lyon’s 1968 photo book of the same title and brings to the audience a story of the Vandals, a motorcycle club from Chicago, the story is all fiction. Jeff Nichols is known for making a career out of writing about the South and its people, this time he brings a fresh Midwestern look to this story of two brothers, youth and rebellion. The film features Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy in the lead roles and all three of them give exactly the kind of performance we were all expecting. Danny Lyon himself is portrayed as an interviewer who tells the story of the Vandals’ formation and growth from a small group of losers to a large and violent association. Director Nichols manage to capture a more sinister dark side of the bikers lifestyle blend with a love story all at once, even though the film loses some momentum and pace at certain times it was a very intense one, it keeps you wondering whats coming next and hoping for the worst as they keep getting deeper into troubles with the law and other bikers around, a very detail representation of the times too.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21454134/
- Platform: Amazon
Overview of Powerhouse Cast
Jodie Comer is remarkable as Kathy who is the life of the film and its driving force, it is also worth mentioning that Comer’s Kathy is a mayor focal protagonist who gives the film an interesting perspective on the Vandals world, a kind of look or perspective from the outside but still having to do something with the club. Danny Lyon did an excellent job at developing Kathy character as a naive person who gradually becomes a cynical and hardened woman, her Chicago accent and body language are perfect and this only enhances her performance.Austin Butler plays Benny, arguably the main character as some might debate it was actually Tom Hardy as Johnny, none the less Butler’s Benny is an enigmatic character who captures the counter culture of the 1960s bikers, he still had that vision that not everything is black and white, quite intense and this makes both Kathy and Johnny to want his attention and this makes the fight for his loyalty realistic.
Tom Hardy as Johnny has an entirely new look on the screen out of the common anti here we are use to watch him play, his character demand more depth and force him to push his acting skills, as the Vandals’ founder, he is a man full of confidence but also still shows doubt along the film, he is the definition of someone who wants to do and be what ever he likes to, both Butler and Hardy characters together form a rather ambiguous relationship that sever as the rock of most of the conflicts during the film.
The supporting cast is also very good and includes Michael Shannon in the role of Zipco and Norman Reedus in the role of Funny Sonny, this film is full of starts wherever you look at and it felt weird to watch Norman Reedus been on the support cast rather one of the main characters but he still did a superb job. All these actors, along with others such as Boyd Holbrook and Damon Herriman have done a great job in creating the Vandal’s world and each of them has given life to their characters in a way that makes them believable to the time.
Capturing the 1960s Aesthetic
The mayor point after the characters of this film was the looks and aesthetics, especially when it comes to the cinematography by Adam Stone, the film has a very 1960s feel without it being too over the top. It was shot on 35mm anamorphic film and it does has that nostalgic look to it with all necessary details to make it look like it is set in the past, a picture that actually makes the audience go back in time especially anyone from the 60s, I personally can't tell how accurate this might be but based on other descriptions by reviews online it felt very like 60s instead of commercially sold 60s era. Adam Stone has done a great job within his cinematography in developing the riding scenes as the freedom of the open road and the thrill of the ride, trying to make it look as natural as possible to enhance the authenticity of the film giving the audience a taste of the past.All this comes form my perspective of the 60s, I never saw those times and I rather express my opinion but its not based on any facts, probably my vision of the 60s is mostly based on what the industry has build and sold us during all this time but I have notice that many online think the same way including critics from certain rating sites like RTT or IMDB.
The costumes and set design also gives that impression of been accurate to the era and its clear that a lot of effort was put into the production of the film. The Vandals’ leather jackets, decorated with patches and pins, turn into the members of the club and its history. There are many other places within the movie like bars, diners and other settings that look and felt real, complete with the right props that are typical of era to enhance the experience of the movie. This attention to detail in the look of the movie goes a long way in an effort to try to convince the audience of the reality of the environment the film is develop, events and people within it.
What could have been better
The film has been praised by many for its cinematography and acting, but part of the audience online have some minor criticism about the movie as its expected, been realistic is not the best movie of the year and there are a couple of things that could have been better. One of the major complaints that have been made is that the movie has a somewhat fragmented structure which is based on the interviews and the use of flashbacks that might confuse part of the audience who is not use to go back and forward in time within the story. This strategy makes the narrative interesting to those who appeal but sometimes had a negative impact and affects the creation of a coherent and interesting plot, some complained that the movie would have been more effective had it had a more coherent structure or at least a more even distribution of the documentary style sequences and the action sequences.One more issue is the character development and some people think that even with such a great cast some characters especially those who are secondary, are not well developed and their potential is not used fully, this also attributes to having an amazing cast where fans of certain actors will feel this way as they are bias towards the actor, clear example is fans of Norman Reedus and Michael Shannon with there roles were quite short and the audience would have loved to see more of them. Certain viewers also complained that the film was not very coherent and that certain scenes were either too slow or too fast to allow the audience to really get behind the characters or the story of the Vandals motorcycle club, this comes in hand with having to go back and forward, if not play out properly they are certain moments that the story feels rush because its running out of time, this can't be a 3hr movie after all.
Towards the ending the film had a rather ambiguous conclusion and some people felt that it was rather unexpected and rather unsatisfying as there were still more questions to answer about the story but to be honest this is a fiction story with no meaning of a continuation, at least that's how I felt before going into it but some times that also has to do with how much research the audience has done before jumping into the movie and what to expect from it.
The only downside I could mention from the movie is how its narrated, its done in a way that does not appeal to everyone and could feel a bit flat, slow or even boring depending on the audience taste of film but over all I think its a great movie that I could watch more than once, probably not on the same month but over time I see no problem watching it again, I give this movie an 8/10.
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