The Bikeriders

Dear fellow readers,

Warning: Spoilers Alert!

Set in the 1960s, based on a novel with the same name; Kathy meets Benny, a hotheaded member of the Chicago biker club, Vandals. His persistence sweeps her off her feet and she married him five weeks later. A photography student, Danny Lyons travels with and interviews the Vandals. He learns from Kathy, the founder, Johnny started the club from watching an old Marlon Brando movie.

Benny is attacked for his colors by two men at a bar. It really concerns Kathy but he still intends to stay in the club even after almost having his foot severed during an altercation. She expresses her concerns and they argue. Johnny offers Benny leadership of Vandals but he declines.

A 20 year old delinquent, known as the Kid, shows up with the interest to join the club but Johnny initially dismisses him but then decides to test the Kid, allowing only him to join. When he expressed the willingness to abandon his friends, Johnny rejects him for real. The Kid attacks Johnny with a switchblade but he beats the Kid up and warns him not to return.

In 1973, Lyon interviews Kathy about the fate of the Vandals. She explains that Johnny became despondent after the death of his lieutenant Brucie in a vehicular accident, and the club grew increasingly violent after drug-addicted Vietnam War veterans joined the ranks.

At a party, longtime member Cockroach is beaten by new members when he drunkenly expresses a desire to leave the club to become a motorcycle police officer. Kathy is nearly raped while Benny is busy taking Cockroach to the hospital; she is narrowly rescued by Johnny. Furious that Benny wasn't at the party to protect her, she demands Benny quit the Vandals.

Instead, he leaves her for several days. To allow Cockroach to safely leave the club, Johnny takes Benny to stage a break-in at his house, where they shoot him non-fatally in the leg. Perturbed by the increasing violence of the club and again rejecting Johnny's offer of leadership, Benny quits and leaves Chicago for parts unknown.

The Kid, now a member of the Vandals Milwaukee chapter, challenges Johnny to a knife fight for leadership, only to shoot and kill him. Kathy explains to Lyon that after the Kid took over the Vandals, they became a large criminal gang involved in drug trafficking and murder. The older members either fell in line, left to obtain legitimate jobs, or died.

Benny, upon learning of Johnny's death, returns home and breaks down. He and Kathy relocate to Florida where Benny works as a mechanic and has stopped riding motorcycles. Kathy tells Lyon that they are happy, and Benny doesn't miss the biker lifestyle. She looks out the window at Benny, who smiles as the sounds of motorcycles are heard.

This movie was interesting and intense. I loved Jodie Comer from Killing Eve and Austin Butler from The Carrie Diaries, Baz Luhrmann's Elvis and Dune. I cannot help myself... his blue eyes! Melt! My kind of eye-candy! Just like my first love, David Reid. And then, there's the unforgettable Tom Hardy; from the Peaky Blinders, Venom, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Legend. Norman Reedus from the Walking Dead has a small cameo in this film.

If you like crime drama movies, you'd like the Bikeriders. Until next read... ciao!