Movie Review: The Iron Claw
Rating: 4 Stars
The line, “based on a true story”, is a movie cheat code to garner audience trust. The Iron Claw changes ‘based on’ to ‘inspired by’. Tomato, tamoto. Director/Writer Sean Durkin has a trickier task than the usual biographical drama. There are no remarkable feats of human achievement for Durkin to fall back on. The Von Erich family was a nationally famous wrestling family that reached great heights but never had the cultural significance that Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair would later achieve.
The Von Erich family operated in a different time period. A different cultural landscape. Durkin’s script and setting expertly craft that world and how the Von Erich family may’ve maneuvered through it. The takeaway is not the historical accuracy, but rather how Southern cultural and familial values shaped the identities of young men for a world they weren’t prepared for.
The values instilled into the Von Erich family are the product of their stern heavy-handed father Fritz (Holt McCallany). Fritz is not unloving, nor is he uncaring. The issue is that he cares too much. Too much about legacy with a tinge of selfish desire to be known and respected by his wrestling community.
Fritz and his devout God-fearing wife Doris (Maura Tierney) have four boys. Kevin (Zac Efron with an Oscar-level performance) is the oldest and the most emotionally well-rounded. Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) is an Olympic-level Discus athlete and David (Harris Dickinson) is the most personable. The youngest brother Mike (Stanley Simons) is the odd duckling but is beloved by his brothers and in a strained relationship with his father. There was an older brother who died when the boys were young that the film mostly steers clear from. The actual Von Erich family had another brother that Durkin cut from the script. It was an understandable choice considering the level of tragedy that would be forthcoming.
The coloring of the film is spectacular. Scenes have a vintage look while still being viewed in hi-definition. The yellow stage lighting paired with the green shadows bring the wrestling ring to life. The actual wrestling matches are done with love and care. A trained eye can see moves being sold and punches being feigned.
The Iron Claw stays light on the wrestling out of necessity. The real action is in the conservation among the Von Erich brothers and their father. The film takes on the point of view of Kevin. He and his brothers struggle with addictions to steroids, pain pills, alcohol, and cocaine. Kevin finds some emotional grounding with his girlfriend, Pam (Lily James). His brothers aren’t so lucky. Not only do they suffer with their addiction, they mostly suffer under the weight of the expectation of their father. Fritz is unrelenting in his desire to see his family be the best family in wrestling. His boys follow his path as that is the only life they know.
Fritz remarks early in the film that he didn’t want to see his boys follow him into the wrestling business. It’s a cheeky line because it serves the narrative well to remind you what this film is really about. No matter what the Von Erich brothers did, Fritz was always going to push them to their limits. The fact that they chose wrestling put them at more risk than even the film desires to show.
It’ll be difficult to leave The Iron Claw without a heavy heart. The story is tragic and the resolution is reflection. Zac Efron and Holt McCallany are in career-defining roles. The Iron Claw challenges the American family dynamic in ways that still exist in our culture today.
The film did have one grave misstep. The Ric Flair casting was tough for anyone who’s watched any clip of Ric Flair.
