After impressing as Elvis Presley, The Bikeriders sees Austin Butler kick off the blue suede shoes of one American icon to channel another, playing a rebel-without-a-cause motorcyclist who is the absolute spit of James Dean. Best known for Midnight Special and Mud, American writer-director Jeff Nichols takes a classy, largely compelling look at 60s biker culture.
Inspired by Danny Lyon’s 1967 photo book, and heavily mimicking Goodfellas in both format and tone, the film introduces us to The Vandals, a Midwestern motorcycle club started by affable truck driver Johnny (Tom Hardy) after he watches Marlon Brando in The Wild One on TV one night. The gang’s rise and fall is recounted by Jodie Comer’s straight-talking Kathy, who falls for one of the crew: the brainlessly volatile but puppyish and magnetic Benny (Butler).

Hardy resists the temptation to showboat as the average-joe gang leader who finds himself wading out of his depth. As a handsome, quick-tempered enigma, Butler mainly smoulders, yet he does so with oodles of old-school Hollywood charm, which certainly suits the material. The reliably charismatic Comer guides us ably through the story, but her efforts to master the Midwest accent can sometimes feel like a distraction, while interesting actors such as Michael Shannon, Norman Reedus, Damon Herriman, Mike Faist and Boyd Holbrook are confined to small roles which never amount to much.
Nichols’ sixth feature is a slick, often-seductive piece of cinema that would have benefitted from more memorable characters. For much of its duration, this stunningly rendered film feels dramatically underwhelming; the gang are likeable yet too benign and it’s only late in the game that any real tension is introduced. Though it captures the thrill of hitting the open road, story-wise The Bikeriders lacks a little engine power. 
The Bikeriders is in cinemas from Friday 21 June.