“Durkin does his best to give you some incredible heartwarming scenes at the end of the film which will flatten you like a Von Erich jumping off the top rope.“
Rylan Dawson
4 Rick Flair “Woo’s!” out of 5
The best sports movies are those where it doesn’t matter if you care about the sport or not. Pro wrestling is usually scripted around steroid-induced machismo and midday soap opera levels of drama, but no writer could script the unyielding tragedies thrust upon the family of
the Von Erich’s.
The Iron Claw, the true story of the Von Erich family, explores the legacy of an American wrestling dynasty in the 80’s. Under the brutish tutelage of their father, Jack Von Erich (Holt Mcallany), Kevin (Zac Efron) and his brothers (Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson & Stanley Simon) train so they can one day compete to become NWA World Champions. Early on in the film we’re introduced to the ‘Von Erich Curse’, a piece of the family’s folklore that plagued it well before any of the events in the film even take place. We follow these five Von Erichs as things go from awful to even-more-awful, and the tragic events unfold as if written by Shakespeare himself.
There are some highs – mostly due to Pam (Lily James), who marries in and brings with her some of small joys of life. Pam, with all her normality, highlights the surrealness of a family so affected by its ‘curse’, and those highs are quickly tempered by a plethora of unbelievable lows as we journey through the intertwining, harrowing stories of each brother. The film is also a case study on toxic masculinity, as the original Iron Claw (Jack) imposes his own personal failures on his sons and demands nothing but perfection from
each -ultimately leading to heartbreak.
The performances of all the brothers are the standout of the film. Efron proves again he’s left the High School Musical days long behind with an incredible display of testosterone- fuelled charisma and male fragility. At its heart, it’s an ensemble feature, with Efron, White,
Dickinson and Simon bringing to their roles unyielding love mixed with jealousy and competition, taking sibling rivalry to another level. Director Durkin does a magnificent job of recreating Texas in the 80’s; the wacky hair, the denim jeans and the feeling that a member
from Journey is about to walk into the scene at any minute.
Going into this with absolutely no familiarity with the Von Erich story may be the best way to watch the film, so I’ll keep any of the big scenes out of this review. However, it’s worth noting that Durkin (who acts as both writer and director) omits one brother out of the film
entirely, claiming that the extra hit of tragedy was going to be too much for the viewer to handle. I do understand his reasons – the film may not have been picked up – but I’m not too sure how to feel about this, and whether shying away is the responsible choice.
Without giving any spoilers, I believe the movie suffers a little from not having a typical ending. Real-life isn’t quite like that of course, but either way, what you’re probably expecting to happen, doesn’t happen. That aside, Durkin does his best to give you some incredible heartwarming scenes at the end of the film which will flatten you like a Von Erich jumping off the top rope. Be warned: this film will bring down any hardened being to a blubbering mess.
Rylan Dawson, On The Screen
