Time to get back in the ring.
“The Iron Claw” is a gritty professional wrestling movie about a family on the verge of deterioration. This family was known as the Von Erich family, who popularized the iron claw wrestling hold back in the 1980s. And their deterioration was known as the “Von Erich curse,” which meant that various tragedies happened within the family. But aside from that, this movie isn’t a downer, because it brings out some of the weight of “The Wrestler,” and spikes up the family drama, based on fame, choices, and pushing yourself.
Writer/director Sean Durkin (in his first feature since “The Nest) draws the line between sports and drama, distinguishes each other, and pulsates with almost every intensity. I saw this movie a few weeks ago, and I needed time to process, but I think I was able to see what this movie intends to be. A professional wrestling drama that moves you.
The family consists of six brothers, which in the movie is portrayed as five. To clarify, the oldest brother passed away as a small child, Kevin (Zac Efron) is poised to be the champion to bring home the belt, David (Harris Dickinson) is next in line, Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) needs some ambition in life, and Mike (Stanley Simons) wants to pursue a music career. Their old man is the one who started it all-Fritz (Holt McCallany)-and he wants to have his boys live up to his legacy.
And there was another brother named Chris, who couldn’t be in the screenplay, due to the running time. But like some of the brothers, he has died from suicide at such a young age. This is a sad movie, especially with this chain of reactions, but it isn’t as cold or cynical as “The Son” was.
I don’t follow the world of professional wrestling, so I’m sorry if I didn’t explain things clearly about the family in my review. But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t see what “The Iron Claw” is trying to convey. Besides the genres, it also distinguishes itself between parents and kids and coaches and athletes.
You have a romance between Kevin and a fan named Pam Adkisson (Lily James), which seems to be cut-and-paste, and you cringe at some of the father’s rules like you did in “King Richard.” I know I did. But there’s also have a lot of consistency within the family, about how if one brother can’t bring home the belt, the next one has to. It reflects on the decisions and outcomes, which can be gripping and emotional within the screenplay. And it also deals with how the father treats his boys more like he’s just a coach, especially when one angry scene hits you hard.
It’s amazing that Efron doesn’t steal the show just to win young women over, but actually plays a character with challenges. McCallany has the age and built of the father, who thinks that crying is unnecessary and that if God says something tragic has to happen, then that’s the way it is. There’s also some fine supporting work from Maura Tierney as the mother, while Dickinson, White, and Simons all have their own aspects of easing their emotions.
“The Iron Claw” is basically about rising and falling within your career and life, and this isn’t an easy story. Durkin acknowledges that notion, ands us feeling bad for the family, while feeling some spirits about their sportsmanship. I’m talking, of course, about how they perform in the ring. And when it comes to the family in their own house, they should have worked on their sportsmanship.
