Movie Review: The Iron Claw

MOVIE REVIEW!

The Iron Claw (2023)

Starring: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Lily James, Holt McCallany

Directed By: Sean Durkin

The world of professional wrestling is not unlike the world of big budget blockbusters: there’s colorful characters, high drama, and lots of conflict. But underneath all of that bravado and high emotion, there’s a real human toll, and The Iron Claw looks to highlight that. Focusing on the legendary Von Erich family and the “curse” that follows them, Iron Claw shows the story of Kevin, Kerry,David, and Michael Von Erich as they reach stratospheric heights in the 80’s heyday of professional wrestling, while dealing with their overbearing and controlling father, Fritz (Holt McCallany).

As one might expect from the synopsis, Iron Claw is a bummer of a film. It’s one of those movies that you should at least research the Von Erich story before seeing the movie version, as it’s not going to necessarily make you feel good about life afterwards, even if the end result has a touch of compassion and hope. Professional wrestling is an area of American culture that has a long and tragic history of leaving its stars in the gutter, and the Von Erich’s are no exception. Yet throughout the film, writer/director Sean Durkin presents the Von Erich story with grace and compassion, and even leaves you with a little bit of hope by the time the credits roll.

Mainly centering on Zac Efron’s Kevin Von Erich, the film chronicles the family’s rise and fall, and Efron really shines here. Both physically and emotionally ready for the role, he moves through Iron Claw as if he has the weight of the family legacy on his massive shoulders, which according to his father, he does. The sense of brotherly love and bonding is a major theme of the film, and Efron sells that bond effortlessly, making you feel like he needs to take care of his family, even while it’s being essentially destroyed from within by the man they call “dad”.

Speaking of dear old dad, Holt McCallany, the “hey it’s that guy” actor probably best known recently for Mindhunter, expertly plays Fritz Von Erich as the broken and beaten man who believes the world is out to get him. He’s essentially the human embodiment of toxic masculinity, berating his children when they dare express emotion, no matter how appropriate it would be for the situation. At times it’s almost too much to bear, as McCallany lays on the mistreatment and psychological abuse on all around him in ways that make you yourself want to hit him, but that’s what makes McCallany’s performance work so well. He’s a broken man who cannot let go of his past, and it’s destroying the family around him.

Iron Claw has received a lot of buzz for including Jeremy Allen White from The Bear as Kerry Von Erich, the former Olympian athlete who is roped into becoming the next wrestling superstar of the family. Surprisingly, his role is a lot smaller than you would believe, but he makes excellent use of the screen time he has. Same goes for Lily James, who turns an otherwise thankless role as the female lead into one that is arguably just as tragic as the Von Erich families. As someone who has married into the family, she’s been exempt from the lifetime of emotional and psychological abuse the others experienced, but she’s still a witness and victim of the fallout.

This film is Sean Durkin’s third overall, and arguably his widest release, and while he does struggle at times with the weight of the story, his style is well suited overall. There’s a particularly great use of 80’s style editing when we see the actual matches the Von Erich’s took part in, and his recreation of the over the top style mixed with the down to Earth realism of what happens when the stage lights go off is fascinating. Later on in the Von Erich’s career, we see the camera gradually pan out to shows a stadium that was once full of people but is now almost empty. The camera’s lingering presence on the place that was once filled to the brim with rambunctious fans tells more than any dialogue could.

It’s not unsurprising to say that Iron Claw would fit well as a double feature with 2008’s The Wrestler. Both films look at how we treat our real world pop culture heroes and how the industry they prop up ultimately fail them. Yet Iron Claw looks even more inward to review and study how the larger ideas of family, masculinity, and “what’s owed to us” can turn even the most sacred relationship into abuse, and how hard it is to fight against it. Iron Claw may not be the feel good film of 2023, but it’s certainly one of the best.

VERDICT: A-