The Iron Claw is a film anybody can enjoy. Your mom will have a good time for its well done tear-jerking family drama. It has quickly become a candidate for Dad movie of the year. Your sister, if nothing else, will appreciate Zac Efron’s workout routine. And your brother will have fun misinterpreting it as a motivational movie to make you “work harder”.
The Iron Claw: “Dad Movie of the Year”
The Iron Claw peels back the curtain before the Von Erich family during their meteoric rise to the top of professional wrestling.The film shows the brothers at their most vulnerable and shattered ironically while their careers are finally flourishing. Within the opening minutes of the movie, the audience gets a feel for the type of upbringing the Von Erich brothers have had. From that point on, the film does not let up – as the true story it is based on does not let it.
Behind the camera is Sean Durkin earning his third writing and directing credit after Marthy Marcy May Marlene (2011) and The Nest (2020). Similarly to this year’s May December, this film shows the effects of years of abuse from a young age; however, where Todd Haynes’ Netflix original tells the story through the interviews of those surrounding the scandal, The Iron Claw tells the story from the direct perspective of the victim. It also displays themes of obsession in the brothers and more so in their father Fritz Von Erich played by Holt McCallany who embodies the classic father living vicariously through his sons. However, more prevalent than any other theme is tragedy. Throughout the entire film the Von Erich family is subject to catastrophe, giving you just enough time to catch your breath before delivering another punch to the gut. If it were not based on true events, it would have been hard to believe a story so riddled with tragedy.
The Iron Claw parallels movies such as Whiplash (and not just because of their similar color palette) and Dead Poets Society; however, it most reminds me of 2014’s Steve Carrel led Foxcatcher with both being based on true and tragic stories that display competitiveness between brothers and an overbearing coach. Both stories have similarities, but the most prominent resemblance is through their tone. Foxcatcher and The Iron Claw establish compellingly grim tones early, and stay consistent with it throughout their entirety.
As mentioned, it would be easy to tell the story in a way that comes off as meaningless due to the relentless tragedies, but is instead made personal due to a myriad of great performances from Zac Efron (Kevin Von Erich), McCallany, Jeremy Allen White (Kerry Von Erich), Harrison Dickinson (David Von Erich), and Lily James (Pam). Efron delivers a career best performance as the oldest living brother Kevin Von Erich, which is necessary to ground the story and make it easier to sympathize with. Without Efron, it is easy to imagine the story lacking humanity leaving the emotional beats to fall flat. Similar to Sandra Hüller’s performance in Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Efron manages to navigate the subtle and the unsubtle. He gives us the delicate change in facial expression and inflection in his delivery, but then the maximalist outburst of emotion towards his unlikable father.
Though I no longer imitate Rey Mysterio’s “619” or keep up with professional wrestling, I feel comfortable enough to say that any movie-goer can quite easily enjoy the action sequences of The Iron Claw. The beautifully stylized representation of the matches along with the fight choreography leaves nothing to be desired, and are only elevated by the easily enjoyable classic rock soundtrack. The wrestling sequences had to have been made well as they provide most of the few “fun” scenes in a generally cynical movie.
Unfortunately, as with any movie The Iron Claw is not without its flaws. More specifically, the exact timeline of the events is never clearly stated or shown and therefore affected the pacing of the movie which is hard enough to manage as it tries to cover such a large amount of time let alone a dense story.
Ultimately, The Iron Claw justly delivers a devastating story and achieves the unintentional goal of every biopic – making every first time viewer read the entire Wikipedia page immediately after leaving the theater.
