The Iron Claw Review

A film based on the seemingly true story (not yet looked into how ‘true’ it is) of a family in the 1980s trying to make it as wrestlers. The film centres around the relationships between the father (Holt McCallany) and his four sons, with High School the Musical's Zac Efron starring as the uncomfortably muscled man child Kevin Von Erich. I’ve tried not to give too much away but some possibly some small spoilers after this point so only read on if you are okay with that.

The Dad and the Curse.

The father, Jack "Fritz" Von Erich, the very literal family patriarch, wants his children to follow in his footsteps and beyond by climbing to the very top of the wrestling hierarchy. Fritz is very much the dad who wants to continue living through his children, symbolically passing onto them his signature finishing move ‘The Iron Claw’. Despite being manipulative and ruthless, or maybe because of this, he is often the comic relief - Once telling his children he has favourites and their position in his ‘rankings’ can change based on performance, haha. 

Early on we find out that his eldest son had died tragically and it was from then said that the family was cursed. The reason for the curse was apparently Fritz taking his mothers surname, apparently rejecting his fathers. Although no explanation is given as to why this happened or how this would result in a curse, it’s an omen of what's to come in more than a few ways.

Brothers of Doom

3 of the brothers filming a wrestling promo (A24 Youtube)

It was really nice to see a film where brothers, despite pressure for it to be different, all get on and love each other. Seems an odd thing to say but it seems like a rare thing to see. Struggling to think of a film where siblings, particularly male siblings aren't shown to be on some level, enemies. So the absence of this was… nice! Looked into and asked around to see if anyone knew of any other films where this happens and the best I've been able to come up with is Blues Brothers (Only two brothers so not sure that fully counts) and a film I've not yet seen called The Outsiders.. Seems odd that Movies only seems to have space for brothers whose only interaction with each other are to be mean...

That niceness aside, the film plays out with unrelenting sadness, which hits the mark because you care for them as they care for each other. Also key is Efron's performance as the lost and loving elder brother. All four brother roles bring something to the film, but Kevin walking around with incredibly sad eyes, with the weight of incredibly large muscles really made the film work. 

 

SCORE OUT OF 1000

500  A film where 4 brothers love each other and get on, just enjoyable to watch. (Idea for a film ‘For Brothers’ where 4 brothers help each other get through and enjoy life)

85  Zac Efron looking lost whilst surrounded by his own muscle

75  The dad not being a cartoonish villain

45  Having no clue about the story beforehand so unable to ruin it for myself by thinking they should have mentioned x and not focused on y.

25  The slight Boogie Nights feel, not just the 70/80s setting but the sense of hope followed by inevitable disappointment.

20  The Mother character… I keep thinking about her and I’m not sure what I’m thinking. She had interesting scenes but felt she could have been more involved to explain herself more.

-25  The lack of Mike and the Mechanics at the end, like used in Spencer

-25  Finding out true story is in fact sadder than the film suggest

- 20  Despite all the sadness think the film *could* have been funnier - An 80s wrestling film with Zac Efron walking around like a sad Prince Adam.. Maybe fitting more in would have made it too long, so only half complaining.

 

690 out of 1000 - 
Recommended. Especially for fans of siblings getting on and sightings of Zac Efron experiencing existential trauma.