The Iron Claw
The world of wrestling is filled with legendary tales & mythical stories that are iconic, memorable, and in far too many cases tragic. When it comes to tragic tales though one wrestling family trumps them all, the legendary Von Erich family from Texas.
The Iron Claw looks to unravel the heartbreaking downfall of the iconic wrestling family as it shines a spotlight on the fabled Von Erich curse.
For years the Von Erichs were on the rise in the territory days of professional wrestling. Yet they always seemed to be one step short of capturing the fabled brass ring & taking their place upon the pinnacle of the sport. It is here the fabled Von Erich curse came to be known, & thus became a self-fulfilling prophecy in a truly devastating fashion.
When it came to the Von Erich's their lives were ruled by two things in a never-ending struggle. Their faith in God & their love of professional wrestling. These 2 elements at times worked together to give the family great success but they simultaneously were fighting a never-ending war. The Iron Claw captures this beautifully with the Von Erich boys becoming Texas heartthrobs via their chiselled wrestling bodies. But then outside the ring, the boys were God-fearing men who simply wanted to do what was best for their family, particularly their brothers.
Kevin Von Erich, played by Zac Efron, is the epitome of this struggle. As the de facto oldest brother Kevin simply wants to support, love, nurture & protect his younger brothers. Even if this means butting heads with their domineering father.
Zac's portrayal of Kevin is a masterstroke, that is by far & away Efron's best on-screen performance of his career. He injects Kevin with a burning love & ambition, neither of which can be stifled. Even when facing incredible setbacks in his own life or career.
Alongside Efron is Jeremy Allan White as Kerry Von Erich, Harris Dickinson as David Von Erich & Holt McCallany as their father Fritz Von Erich. Each man embodies the charisma of the iconic wrestling stars & viewers will soon be big supporters of the boys.
Fritz Von Erich though is someone you'll love to hate. The Iron Claw portrays Fritz as a domineering father & husband who is attempting to make up for his lost glory days by living vicariously through his sons. A move which makes him hard-nosed, unrelenting, devoid of emotion & cold.
The depiction of toxic masculinity, mental health struggles & drug use makes The Iron Claw an incredibly heavy film. Much like the previous cult classic wrestling film The Wrestler the glitz, glamour & pizazz of professional wrestling is stripped back to the smoke-filled venues of territory wrestling in the 1980. Here the harrowing & tragic outcomes seem inevitable.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, the portrayal of wrestling in The Iron Claw is done brilliantly. That being said the film gives us a view of wrestling that we would otherwise like to pretend doesn't exist.
Jeremy Allan White, Zac Efron & Harris Dickinson all clearly grasped the many nuances of the sport very early on. They are excellent when they slip into the performance element of wrestling. But they are also just as believable as loving, but competitive, bothers outside the squared circle.
The Iron Claw is a phenomenally agonising piece of cinema that starts out teasing us with the bright lights of wrestling stardom, before viciously ripping it all away as it stomps a mud hole in our hearts, before walking it dry.
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