Willem Dafoe earned his first starring role in this somewhat obscure biker film that also marked the filmmaking debut for future A list director Kathryn Bigelow ("Point Break", "The Hurt Locker"). Dafoe plays Vance, one of a bunch of bikers that stop over in a small town on their way to some races in Daytona. Unsurprisingly, they shake up the local populace, despite the fact that as some movie depictions of bikers go, they're kind of on the tame side.While there are some appreciable exploitable elements (namely, nudity), "The Loveless" is indeed much more mood piece than action film. It does capture a certain slice of Americana at a certain time (the 1950s), when outsiders and rebels such as Vance and company were treated with suspicion. It's not completely without humor, but is also not afraid to get pretty grim and tragic. Excellent location shooting and local flavor help to make this feel authentic. Bigelow and her co-writer / co-director Monty Montgomery, who went on to work with David Lynch on a couple of projects ('Twin Peaks', "Wild at Heart", etc.), get able performances out of their mostly no-name, regional cast. Dafoe shows definite screen presence and charisma in this early showcase, while Tina L'Hotsky has plenty of appeal as the young sportster driving girl who catches Vances' eye. One of the co-stars is Robert Gordon, who's pretty good himself; he's been an icon in the rockabilly genre and naturally also composed much of the score.Highlighted by a literate, philosophical script by Bigelow and Montgomery.Seven out of 10.

Actually, I haven't seen "The Wild One" lately, but just re-watched "The Loveless" on DVD. To my thinking, if you like Terrence Malick's movies, this is like finding a "lost" one, although maybe a little less intelligent. "Rumble Fish" would be another close comparison. This is very worthwhile, as long as you're in the mood for mood. Even though it has a story, that's not really the point. It's "biker Noir"...not a whole lot of point to it, but very beautiful. And Willem Dafoe is in it, so that's a sure thing. And Robert Gordon, too. One bonus... the bikers are on their way to Daytona, and there's some actual old Daytona footage, when it was races on the beach, on the sand. That's the kind of authenticity this movie brings, capturing things that really don't exist anymore. If you're a fan of getting a glass Coca- Cola bottle out of a machine, this is for you.

They ride fast and live dirty and cool, that could be a tagline for The Loveless. The characters in this biker gang, who are actually relatively peaceful compared to the people in The Wild One (they aren't that rebellious, but just enough to make an impression), and just want to chill in a small not-quite town until they can go down to Daytona for a big race. But there isn't much to do in terms of hanging out. Sure, they can work on their rides in a local garage, and sure Willem Dafoe's Vance has a ladies-man charm that is uncanny (or just, you know, 'bad boy' style, as we see in an opening scene where he helps an older woman with a flat tire), and sure there's a night of revelry in a bar. But these guys aren't looking too much for trouble, relatively. It's more about how they just want to drink some good booze, listen to their rock and roll, and unfortunately get harassed by rednecks who think their Commies. I can't really say for Monty Montgomery, as he directed this as his first feature and then went off into producing (save maybe for the connection to Wild at Heart), but as Kathryn Bigelow's first film as co- director it shows so much promise for the rest of her career. And intriguingly it's not quite like her other movies. It's inspired by some of the Wild One, some rock and roll, but in its look and melodramatic shades such as with the girl Vance hooks up with it's akin to Douglas Sirk. It's visual sheen is very 1950's, and it's got guys on bikes who are looking for a good time, and all the actors are cast spot on. Fun to watch as well is one of the bikers played by Robert Gordon, a Rockabilly legend. But it's Bigelow's vision that makes it unique, and perhaps Montgomery's affinity for 50's low-down road culture.It's hard to pin-point what makes the movie interesting since, frankly, not a whole lot happens. There's the romantic fling Vance has with the girl- a scenario shot with loving close-ups to the girl and a fine look to the motel bed scenes- and there's some doing with the sub-plot of the redneck dudes looking to beat some biker ass. But the tone is what counts here, and what may actually turn off some viewers. There isn't a lot of 'plot' and in some ways, more than any other Bigelow film, resembles a European piece that concerns itself with how these guys move, react, listen to the music (and there's a lot, a close second to American Graffiti in terms of amount of 50's rock tunes, this less recognizable but still as meaningful), and get drunk in a bar with what looks like 100 bottles on a table. What it comes down to in The Loveless is you can either take the figurative ride with these guys just hanging out, or not. I did, and it was enjoyable once it got me in its grasp. It's never boring though; you always are a little on edge that something *could* happen, and when it does (i.e. the confrontation between the girl's father and Vance) that it reaches a dramatic peak, or of course with the violent climax that could be an homage to Peckinpah. It's just a different kind of biker movie, less concerned with action and more about what it was like to be these guys, or be around them, in a sleepy nothing-town in the mid 50's. If Antonioni made a biker movie and had to have a soundtrack of wall-to-wall rockabilly, it might be this.

1959: A gang of bikers en route to Daytona, Florida who include the surly, disaffected Vance (a smoothly self-assured performance by Willem Dafoe in his film debut) and restless hothead Davis (nicely played by rockabilly icon Robert Gordon) are forced to make an unwanted pit stop in a sleepy Southern hamlet when one biker has engine trouble with his chopper. Complications ensue when Vance becomes involved with tempting teen tramp Telena (a splendidly brassy'n'sassy turn by the cute Marin Kanter), which doesn't go over well with the extremely uptight and intolerant square townspeople.Written and directed by Kathryn ("Near Dark," "Blue Steel") Bigelow and Monty Montgomery (who later produced "Twin Peaks" and "Wild at Heart"), "The Loveless" sure ain't your average trashy B-biker exploitation action romp. Instead it's something much better and more ambitious: a beautifully brooding, stylish and intriguing existential mood piece that's rich in a pungently evocative atmosphere that exquisitely seethes with barely suppressed menace, violence, despair, ennui, malaise, sexuality and homo-eroticism. Doyle Smith's gorgeously glossy, gleaming cinematography, the uniformly excellent acting, the vivid and meticulous recreation of the 50's, Robert Gordon's fantastic rockabilly score, the cool hepcat slang ("We got the scratch"), the deliberately slow pace, and the strikingly grim and tragic conclusion further strengthen the potent and intoxicating spell this film casts on the viewer, sucking you in with a masterful ease that's truly something to behold. This is the kind of supremely subtle and low-key picture which initially doesn't seem like much as you watch it, but has an uncanny way of sticking with you long after you see it.