After a seven-year hiatus, acclaimed director Jeff Nichols returns with this much anticipated drama. It is set in the 1960s and it follows the rise of the Vandals MC – a Chicago based motorcycle club – over the course of a decade. It is started by Johnny (Tom Hardy) after he sees The Wild One on TV and it includes the enigmatic Benny (Austin Butler) who is married to Kathy (Jodie Comer).
I am not normally keen on film with tricksy structures but I thought the device of having Kathy tell the story to journalist Danny (Mike Feist), who wrote the book that Nichols adapted, works well. Comer is a sparky presence, Hardy seems to be, appropriately, channelling Marlon Brando, has the required air of menace and Butler is much better than he was as Elvis. I also enjoyed the appearance of regular Nichols collaborator, Michael Shannon, as one of the more out there gang members.
So, it was pretty engrossing stuff on the whole but I struggled with an issue that is not really a problem with the film itself. The gang seemed to consist mostly of middle aged men pootling around on bikes, trying to cling onto their youth. It all came across as a bit sad, and made Kathy’s decision to put up with Benny’s behaviour for so long a bit baffling.
Rating: 7 out of 10