The Iron Claw
The Iron Claw
Starring Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Holt McCallany
Directed by Sean Durkin
Jack "Fritz" Von Erich (Holt McCallany) was a successful wrestler who never was able to win the coveted heavyweight champion of the world. He retired from wrestling and began training three of his four sons - oldest Kevin (Zac Efron), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), and David (Harris Dickinson) - to accomplish what he never could. Their fourth brother Mike (Stanley Simons) is more interested in music than wrestling, despite his father's persistence, while their mother Doris (Maura Tierney) remains as steadfast as ever.
One night after a wrestling match Kevin meets Pam (Lily James) and the two begin a whirlwind romance resulting in their eventual marriage and birth of their first son. Yet this positive light is dampened by numerous family tragedies that befall the Von Erichs, leading Kevin to believe that there's the "Von Erich curse" that could claim everyone he loves.
The Good:
I'm not a big wrestling fan and honestly never heard of the Von Erichs until this movie, but their legacy is well-known and respected. They were wholly dedicated to the art of wrestling and devoted day and night to make sure they were the best. The story really delves into this obsession in a way that shows how such obsessions could be costly, especially if done for the wrong motives. The brothers truly love one another and love nothing more than to wrestle each other, but it's at the behest of their overbearing father who never accomplished what he wanted to in the ring, and as such lives vicariously through his sons whom he constantly pushes to be better. It's a profound story that's moving and powerful, and one that's also deeply personal.
Zac Efron has effectively shed his "High School Musical" roots and gives easily his best performance to date as Kevin, the oldest (or, in his words, second oldest since their oldest brother died when he was five) brother who feels like he needs to protect his other brothers at any cost. He truly loves his family - even his overbearing father - and devotes his life to making theirs better, as well as his once he starts his own family. Efron bulks up tremendously for the film, but its his acting talent that gets a much-needed boost that elevates his performance to more than just a muscle-bound jock, but a man holding the weight of his own personal world on his shoulders.
The other actors playing his brothers also perform to peak perfection. "The Bear" star Jeremy Allen White plays Kerry with a deep sense of melancholy who finds himself lost in his own world of addiction and wanting his father's approval. Harris Dickinson's David is the natural showman who worries that he upstages his brothers without meaning to. Stanley Simons' Mike is the black sheep of the family who'd rather play music than wrestle, but even he is enticed to get into the ring to gain his father's approval. All four actors have a natural comradere that shines through and you'd believe that they were actually brothers in real life.
As the patriarch of the family, Holt McCallany rules the roost with an iron...claw, if you will. His quest for perfection pits the brothers against one another as he constantly ranks them depending on their success. He lives vicariously through his sons, reliving the glory days of his time in the ring, and pushes them more and more to the point where many of them break. McCallany plays an excellent villain, a man who holds perfection over love, and is someone you'd never want as a father.
The story focuses on the brothers and the eventual curse that affects their lives, but it's also interesting when it comes to their father. He ranks his sons in order and tells them that they can always change depending on how proud or disappointed he is in them, and typically in films like this (it probably helps that this is a real story) the brothers would set out to destroy or knock each other down, but instead they pick each other up and serve as their own father figures to one another. It's refreshing and sweet to watch, which makes the pain that comes later all that more unbearable.
That pain is intense and numerous, hitting Kevin and his family time and again in hopes of knocking them down permanently, and you wonder how one family can endure so much tragedy. Yet while Kevin calls it a family curse, the events that happen can be explained away by one word: perfection. Fritz pushes his sons to be perfect which ultimately breaks them, resulting in several casualties, but it's not really a family curse as much as it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You push anyone beyond their mental state and they're bound to break. Seeing them break is depressing and heart-wrenching, and through the excellent performances you see this happen full tilt.
The wrestling moments are fun and exciting, something you'd expect from a wrestling match I would assume. The brothers fight in-tandem and showcase the family's talent as well as their signature move, the Iron Claw. It's not as polished as the "Creed" films, but that's because these wrestlers fight on their home turf in a small wrestling arena in the 80s, so all the glitz, glamor, lights, and effects aren't there - only bare bones wrestling, which makes it all the more intense.
The Bad:
Again, I never really watched wrestling, but the actor who played Ric Flair - according to my friend, who's a die-hard wrestling fan - was absolutely terrible. Then he showed me an actual recording of what was recreated in the film and I have to agree. Thankfully the character isn't on screen too long.
More importantly, the film glosses over the emotional resonance that comes with the tragedy that happens. We only really see Kevin reacting to what's going on, while the other brothers - and their father especially - have an emotional distance from it all. They don't seem to react to what's happening, and to the brothers' credit that's because their father forbids them to. Yet you'd expect Fritz to have some sort of emotional response to all his loss, but that just isn't there. He remains in the end as he was at the beginning: a man craving his own fame through his sons, no matter the cost. It would've been more profound to see him react, but maybe too that was how he did it in real life as well.
The Summary:
Proving that some families can be pushed to the brink, "The Iron Claw" is a powerful true story about the strive for perfection and how it can ultimately destroy us if we choose to let it.
The Score: A+
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