A “cursed” family of well-known wrestlers is the subject of this biographical drama, which, while largely impressive, suffers from packing too much tragedy into the second half…
*Spoilers* Written and directed by Sean Durkin, The Iron Claw is one of those films that if it wasn’t based on (or inspired by) historical events, would probably have been dismissed as being too far-fetched.
While it has plenty working in its favour, the odd pacing drains some of the emotional engagement out of the tragic tale of the Von Erichs, a “cursed” family of professional wrestlers.
(For those unfamiliar with wrestling, this is not the “grappling on the ground” of The Foxcatcher (2014); it’s more Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008) but with slightly less of a pantomime feel.)
Known as Texas “wrestling royalty” in the 1980s, the Von Erich family is headed by patriarch Fritz (Holt McCallany), who built a career around wrestling (including his feared “Iron Claw” move), with his sons expected to follow in his footsteps.
After a preamble which sets up the family and bookends the narrative, we meet the eldest living son Eric (the actual eldest boy died in childhood).
Clearly the heir apparent, Eric (Zac Efron) – with a bulked-up physique and boxy haircut that make him look a bit like a non-green Lou Ferrigno in The Incredible Hulk TV show – pushes himself to the limits to achieve success in the ring.
Close behind him is David (Harris Dickinson), less ripped but better than Eric at the obligatory showman-esque smack talk. There’s also Mike (Stanley Simons), a gentler soul who would rather write music than body slam The Sheik.
Rounding out the quartet is Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), a talented discus thrower headed for the 1980 Olympics. When the US boycotts the Olympics, Kerry dons the trunks and joins Eric and David in the ring.
The bond between the brothers is strong, and while they defer to their old man, it is obvious that he’s a toxic presence. Driven, living vicariously through his boys, and intolerant of weakness and outward emotion, he pushes them to be better. But, in the process, breaks each of them to varying degrees.
Fritz is enabled by the boys’ God-fearing mother Doris (Maura Tierney), whose response any time one of her sons wants to discuss something mushy is “go talk to your brothers”.
The result is a dysfunctional family dynamic where love and respect are measured in degrees of punishment in the ring, and traumas are suppressed until they come out in devastating ways.
For the first half of the film, the narrative largely revolves around the brothers’ relationship with each other and the ring, as Eric is groomed by Fritz to get a shot at the world heavyweight title.
Those not initiated into the world of pro wrestling might be a bit confused as to how you can become a champion in something choreographed and seemingly without rules. This is somewhat explained by Eric on his first date with Pam (Lily James). Apparently, it’s simply a reward for being good at the moves and for entertaining the crowd.
In the context of the story, it symbolizes shallow success. Just as the “prize” of working hard to win the fleeting praise of Fritz comes at a cost, the physical exertion needed to win over the baying crowd lands the ultimately meaningless “prize” of the title belt.
Cracks start to appear, as the brothers each take their turn at being Fritz’s favourite. As Eric dedicates himself to the ring, David’s finesse pushes him up the pecking order, while Kerry’s welcome return to the family turns the brothers into the feared Von Erich trio. All the while, Michael grapples with being the odd one out. As a subplot, Eric is pursued by the relentless Pam, who makes it clear from day one that marriage is in their future.
At midpoint, the tone shifts. Eric marries a pregnant Pam but very quickly the first tragedy strikes, as David dies unexpectedly. This loss hardly has time to settle before Kerry heads off for a doomed night-time motorbike ride. The next thing we know, he’s struggling to cope with losing a foot. An underprepared Michael is co-opted into the ring in a clearly unwise move which ends in surgery that leaves him brain damaged.
Before the end of the film, Michael and Kerry both die by suicide, leaving Eric as the only living Von Erich son.
Unfortunately, this litany of woe is so compressed that there really isn’t any time for each event to reverberate before the next tragedy befalls the family.
The timeline rolls on, glossing over multiple years and events. In one scene, Eric and Pam have a baby, then in the next they have two young sons and a third on the way. Eric takes over the wrestling business and Fritz is pushed into the background.
One of the best sequences comes toward the end when Kerry (who leaves the family to wrestle for the then-WWF) comes home for Christmas. This opens a vein of suppressed emotion, which leads to Eric finally feeling the full weight of what’s come before.
Throughout, the wrestling scenes are intense, even wince-inducing, while the acting is great. The Von Erichs are well-cast, with Efron mining plenty from his role as Eric, whose physical appearance and stoic persona cover up a lifetime of pent-up frustration.
Overall, this is an effective film, which covers a period in the lives of one family, whose name was both a blessing and a curse. If only there had been a little breathing room between the unrelenting tragedy, it might have created something that reverberated in a more drastically satisfying way.