Pan and Slam

The Iron Claw

R 2h 12m

• Director
  • Sean Durkin
• Stars
  • Zac Efron
  • Jeremy Allen White
  • Harris Dickinson

by Jason Koenigsberg

Professional Wrestling is a very theatrical form of entertainment it is surprising that more great motion pictures have not been made about the sport. Perhaps that is because it is very low on the totem pole in terms of quality sports or high art due to its status as a lowly form of entertainment akin to daytime talk shows and reality TV. But make no mistake, these wrestlers are athletes who need to be in great shape and put their bodies through more than most football, baseball, and basketball players do on a daily basis. Just because the outcome is rigged should not lessen the skills of some of these wrestlers, and the best ones, the ones that have become household names, are exceptional athletes and artists with a strong dedication to their craft and master storytellers. The Iron Claw tells the tragic true story of the Von Erich family. A family of brothers who were driven hard by their father to succeed in the squared circle and the toll that this family will go through. Knowing the outcome before seeing the film does not hinder the emotional impact of Sean Durkin’s touching drama. The Iron Claw is the best movie about professional wrestling since The Wrestler (2008) and is one of the best movies of the year.

The film opens up with a far away shot of a wrestling ring in black and white, the lights above the ring slowly go on and the shot eventually fades into the face of a sweaty man, his head moving back and forth and then it flashes the title. The face we see is Fritz Von Erich, played by Holt McCallany, the patriarch of the Von Erich clan. It shows him as a father with his young boys in the first scene shot entirely in black and white as he explains to his wife how they will succeed by living the part of a successful wrestler after he buys a new Cadillac when they cannot even afford a house and have a mobile trailer hitched to the back of their new car. Flash forward about twenty years and we see one of his sons Kevin, played by Zac Efron, has become a wrestling champion in his home territory of Texas. Back before Vince McMahon’s federation had a monopoly on professional wrestling, it was a regional sport with big stars in different territories. The Iron Claw does not focus on the history of wrestling or even on how the family climbed the ladder and became one of the most famous families in the wrestling business. This movie transcends wrestling which is why it could be enjoyed by anyone regardless of their background or opinion of the so called fake sport. This movie works best as a family drama that could have been about a group of brothers driven in any sport or profession. One of the best aspects about The Iron Claw is how it focuses on the family and not the wrestling.

It avoided the usual cliches of these types of true stories where a family is pushed by an aggressive and driven father. There are no scenes of an angry dad rampaging through the house instilling fear or terrorizing his family. Ironically for a movie about pro wrestling, the quietest scenes are the most powerful. A scene with the mother painting and her husband asks her if she made dinner, a shot of a wrestler walking through the curtain followed by a shot of the door of the family home wide open and then it cuts to the mother inside watching her sons match on television. There are other moments where the framing of the characters tells an entire story with visuals making the dialogue superfluous. Early on there is a fantastic yet eerie sequence with still shots of the Von Erich household where they show a family portrait, a crucifix, a gun collection behind a glass case, and a trophy collection right after that. Those images basically summarize the families life as well as the movie itself. Plus a scene where the father sits at a table as the family eats breakfast and he is brutally honest telling his children that he has favorites and ranks them right to their faces but reminds them that rankings can change. There are a lot of moments like that which stick out.

The Iron Claw at its most basic is the story of four brothers fighting for their fathers love, but their mother is no saint either. There are scenes where neither parent wants to take responsibility for the tragic acts that unfold. Neither parent shows emotion and are both very tough to please, they view crying as a sign of weakness. The mother, played by Maura Tierney, is an enabler and at times seems like she conveniently puts blinders on. She does not seem interested in being a mother yet eventually in some scenes does show compassion by her standards and assertiveness to her dominating husband at least in her own way.

Praise has to be given to the actors. The performances in The Iron Claw are some of the best all year especially Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich who at times seems the most cursed and unfortunate of the brothers, as well as Jeremy Allen White as Kerry Von Erich who would be known to wrestling fans all around the world in the late 80’s and early 90’s as the Texas Tornado, and Maura Tierney who has been working hard as an actress for decades and this is probably her best role. All of those deserve serious consideration this awards season. The final shot is a bright moment that reminded me of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986). These characters go through so much pain and turmoil over the running time that when it ends with the brightest shot in the picture the viewer is guaranteed to walk out smiling and emotionally moved in some manner. If not then they may have checked their soul at the ticket booth. The worst part about The Iron Claw is the poor actor who plays Ric Flair. Seriously, he looks like him and moves like him in the ring, the white wig helps. But there are a ton of better impressions out there of the Nature Boy. It’s like screwing up an impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are so many great ones out there. A minor quibble of an otherwise outstanding picture.