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Based on a very true story about a family of legends within the wrestling community, The Iron Claw is a wonderfully tragic story packed with amazing performances. The movie features some brilliant work by all involved, from the acting to the directing, editing, and score; all emphatically showcase this story about brothers who fall victim to their legacy.
Read on for my non-spoiler The Iron Claw review.
The Iron Claw Review Based On A True Story
The events of The Iron Claw are factual and based on a very real story. Featuring the Von Erich wrestling family, the story sees four brothers giving it their all to fulfill their father’s wish of bringing home the world championship wrestling belt. An acclaim that eluded the father himself. Herding all the brothers, and the best wrestler among them is eldest Kevin (Zac Efron) who feels a sense of responsibility for all his brothers.
Kevin is a career wrestler following in his father’s footsteps. Then there is Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) whose dreams of being an Olympic discus thrower are dashed when the Summer Olympics in Russia are canceled. He ends up joining his brothers in the ring. Along with the third Von Erich brother, David who is also a career wrestler. The fourth brother has no interest in wrestling, deciding to pursue music instead.
The story features the lives of this family, their struggle to make a dent in the wrestling world, surviving their father’s high expectations, and being there for each other through it all. Director Sean Durkin crafts a story that follows real-world events, with still enough character development and dramatic urgency, that the story feels like a cohesive one that stands on its own.
The Iron Claw Review Praises The Performances
While Zac Efron physically transformed himself into the role of an actual wrestler, it’s the emotional core of his performance that leaves you in awe of his talent. Despite his bodybuilder physique, Efron conveys so much vulnerability, emotional distress, and just a quiet simmering of frustration and anger at the twists and turns that devastate his family. It’s a sad performance that still has to juggle the physical demands of playing a wrestler, along with the inner turmoil that wreaks havoc within his family. One of Efron’s, and the year’s best performances.
Supporting him is White as the quieter and more restrained brother who battles his demons. Even David, played by Harris Dickinson is a breakout here, where he has to deal with everything that Kevin does, but also has to deal with being the middle brother. Maura Tierney has some great moments as their mother who has to live through the tragedy of their family.
The Writing Wonderfully Humanizes Every Character
But one of the best performances outside of Efron is that of Holt McCallany. Being in countless films and TV shows, McCallany is one of the best character actors we have. As the Patriarch of the Von Erich wrestling family, McCallany delivers a career-best performance of his own. Unlike the usual cliches, Fritz is not the villain of this story. He may be an antagonist, but he never plays the character as the one that everyone hates in the story.
Writer-director Sean Durkin gave the character so much nuance, that McCallany brought it to life. The story doesn’t demonize the dad who pushes his kids to the brink. But the performance adds depth to this character archetype that we rarely see on screen. And he is wonderful as the super strict dad who truly loves his kids, albeit in a twisted and messed up way. And while you will hate him, he doesn’t play the role of a villain.
A Tragedy That Doesn’t Play Like One
One of the best things about The Iron Claw is how the movie never plays up the fact that it’s a tragedy. Instead, it’s a heartwarming story about a family and their rise to acclaim in the wrestling industry. The movie doesn’t do doom and gloom plot points, but the organic way the story unfolds creates even more of an emphasis on the story and what the characters go through. Director Durkin does not play up any one angle too much but creates a great balance of emotions that will make audiences laugh, smile, relate to the family dynamic and ultimately be a part of the emotional whirlwind that the story goes through.
The Iron Claw is easily one of the best movies of 2023, despite its late entry, and I could easily see the movie become an underdog come awards season. Notably with nominations in the acting categories for Efron.
Rating: A
The Iron Claw is now in theatres.
What did you think about The Iron Claw? Let me know in the comments below, or follow me on X (Twitter) at @theshahshahid for more reviews of new movies and TV shows.
