THE IRON CLAW – Review

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready to …watch another sports-themed movie! Sheesh and people whine about a “glut” of superhero flicks! So far this year we’ve got four or five “sports flicks”, the latest being the soccer comedy NEXT GOAL WINS. Now that’s based on a true story, like most of the others. Oh, and two more true sports films finish out the year on Christmas Day. So, what sets this weekend’s release apart from the others? Well, it’s set in the world of professional wrestling in the “go-go” 1980s. Hmm, sounds like lots of campy, flashy fun. And you’d be a bit mistaken. Mind you, there are chuckles but this true tale is really a tragedy, close in spirit to a Greek one or even Shakespeare, but with spandex and mullets. In the center ring…a fable of a wrestling family dynasty whose patriarch gained fame through his signature “move”, THE IRON CLAW.

The film actually starts a couple of decades earlier, in the final moments of a match won by Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany), and he does indeed use “the claw”. In the parking lot, he meets up with his grade-school-aged two sons and their mother Doris (Maura Tierney), and introduces them to their newer bigger vehicle for traveling on “the circuit”. She’s annoyed, but little Kevin and Kerry are thrilled. Flash forward about a decade and a half as buff twenty-something Kevin (Zac Efron) goes for a morning jog around the family’s Texas ranch home. He finishes in time for a big breakfast with Mom, Dad, and kid brothers David (Harris Dickinson) and Mike (Stanley Simmons). And what of brother Kerry (Jeremy Allen White)? The prodigal is away training for the upcoming 1980 Olympic games. Fritz is out of “the game” and now works as a manager for Kevin while starting up a new league, World Class Championship Wrestling. Unfortunately, despite his physical prowess, Kevin is awkward in front of the camera in promotional interviews, while David proves to be more of a “showboat”. This prompts Papa to focus on him, much to Kevin’s frustration. He does get a boost from dating a lovely fan named Pam (Lily James), leading to an eventual marriage. And then world politics impacts “the act” when the USA boycotts the Olympics, sending Kerry home. Fritz then creates a three-man tag team with Kevin, Kerry, and David as Mike pursues his music dreams. But fame splits the trio, as the brothers go solo, and tragedy spurs Mike to enter the “family business”. Fate is far from finished with them as the rumored “Von Erich curse” threatens to destroy the tight-knit group.

As the eldest Von Erich son, and the film’s main focus, Efron achieves a real maturity as an actor, blasting beyond his teen heartrob era to convey the complexities of the deceptively simple Kevin. Though he has the shape of a Samson (and many other “sword and sandal” screen stalwarts) Kev seems to be a vulnerable youngster yearning for his papa’s love and respect. His behavioral development seems a bit stunted perhaps causing his inability to sell himself on camera, and later when in his relationship with Pam (like his pop, she’s almost his coach). Efron shows us how life chips away at that awkwardness until he pushes back against his dad in a powerful third-act sequence. As Pam, James completely morphs into the twangy Texas belle who’s awed by the “beefcake” and then smitten by the timid soul beneath. White, the breakout star of TV’s “The Bear”, doesn’t have nearly as much screen time, but his struggles with a cruel impairment give extra strength to the changing family dynamic. Dickinson oozes charisma as David who becomes the face of the family franchise with his boasting bravado and showmanship (he rocks all those sparkly stetsons). As the “baby”, Simmons has a real warmth and sweetness as he tries to break away with his tunes while obviously crushing on his big bro’s gal. This makes his fate even more heartwrenching. The talented Tierney isn’t given enough to do as the sometimes aloof matriarch, though she is an excellent partner to the blustery, manipulative McCallany is the former fighter denied his glory who now believes he can attain it, along with the big payday, through his boys. For much of the story, he’s more of a villain than any of the wrestling adversaries, and McCallny brings all the intimidation and callousness needed for the role.

This sports saga is told bywriter/director Sean Dirkin who crafts a believable bond between the brothers and deftly recreates the era when wrestling was beginning its steady climb into the mainstream. Dirkins gets great work from the ensemble and makes effective use of the Texas locales. However, the matches themselves seem to lack the trashy campy exhilaration of those big events. Much as in the recent PRISCILLA, the spectacle seems “muted” with the action at a distance and in shadows, perhaps to obscure the backgrounds. We hear some of the chatter between the champs and get a look at their camaraderie in the locker room, but some of the absurdities are “watered down”. Outside the arenas, we never really get to know the brothers, aside from Kev, until the “curse” begins picking them off like an early 80s horror flick stalker. I’m wondering if the story should have had more room “to breathe”, perhaps as a TV mini-series (this may be the reason why one brother, Chris, was completely written out). The last act is given a boost by the big confrontation between father and son but is then diluted by a fantasy/dream sequence that feels cloying and mawkish like something from a film from eighty years ago. Still, this is not to take away from the excellent cast, who “flex their pecks” and give heart to the Von Erichs in THE IRON CLAW.

2.5 Out of 4

THE IRON CLAW is now playing in theatres everywhere