The Iron Claw’s energy in the ring can’t overcome its weaknesses outside the ring
Your mileage may vary on how much you care about wrestling. Wrestling only became major sports entertainment in the late 1980s with the growing popularity of the WWF (World Wrestling Federation). But in the early 1980s, the Von Erich family sought fame on wrestling’s biggest stages, but tragedy continued to get in the way. The Iron Claw, a new sports drama named after the family’s trademark wrestling move, hastily captures this incredibly sad, hard-to-believe true story, but lacks emotional thoroughness in between its wrestling matches.
Zac Efron stars as Kevin Von Erich, the eldest child of Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany) and Doris Von Erich (Maura Tierney) after the untimely death of their seven year-old son, Jack Jr. It’s a family full of sons: Kevin’s younger brothers include David (Harris Dickinson), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), Mike (Stanley Simons), and lastly Chris, who is not represented in the film. Von Erich is a stage name —their real family name is Adkisson. Fritz, real name Jack, rules the family with an iron fist, having narrowly missed out on a World Heavyweight Championship belt himself and abusively imparts his unending quest for glory onto his sons. Despite the strict rules and constant chastising, the sons yearn to please their father while chasing wrestling success for themselves, none more so than Kevin. However, as the true story goes, the family is plagued by tragedies, so much so that it’s believed the Von Erichs are cursed.
All that is to say, The Iron Claw was set up perfectly to deliver dramatic tension and an emotional punch. It’s the type of real life story we often see adapted well on screen. Efron gives the best performance of his career, physically and emotionally. He carries the weight of the film on his distractingly bulked-up shoulders while the story around him hurries through events. Director Sean Durkin (The Nest) spends his filmmaking talents on the wrestling matches, using unexpected camera angles, blood-pumping music, and high octane energy. Meanwhile, the scenes back at the Von Erich household, or scenes of the brothers hanging around, and chasing girls, have charming 1980s detail but lack emotional gravitas. The Von Erich story is too eventful and complex, with too many important characters, for a feature-length film to properly address. The non-Kevin siblings suffer the most as the film skips from scene to scene in a disconnected manner, like a series of vignettes, with not enough time for meaningful character arcs. Dialogue is awkwardly on-the-nose, the camera is often unmoving, and the decision to show each tragic event off-screen, though an arguably tasteful choice, is too obvious in its execution. These subpar elements render The Iron Claw ultimately forgettable, aside from Efron, but that could be the result of, ahem, muscle memory.
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The Iron Claw opens in theaters on Friday, December 22nd.
