Control and suppression tighten the sadness of 'The Iron Claw'
A24
Everything is a multi-part TV series now. We don’t need more of those. We need more movies for adults. Others have said this and should keep saying it.
And yet. “The Iron Claw,” a deeply felt movie about a wrestling family experiencing tragedy after tragedy, feels as rigidly contained as its characters’ physiques and demeanors, even in a typically slow-moving effort from writer-director Sean Durkin (“Martha Marcy May Marlene,” “The Nest”). Maybe it’s because I knew absolutely nothing about this story. But as the film attempts to sprawl into the different yet ultimately often comparable fates of the Von Erich brothers, I kept imagining what more could’ve been done with a stand-alone episode about David (Harris Dickinson) or Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) or Mike (Stanley Simons).
Of course, there’s reason that Durkin anchors the film to Kevin (Zac Efron), who clarifies that, in fact, he’s not the oldest brother but the second-oldest, when you recognize the brother who died when Kevin was just 5. Anyone expecting “The Iron Claw” to have the freewheeling showmanship and high-fiving glee created for wrestling fans will be disappointed; this is far closer to the grim aesthetic of “The Wrestler” and the determination and exhaustion of both putting on a show and living a life outside the ring.
The driving factor behind everything is the boys’ father Fritz (Holt McCallany), who says that men don’t cry, gives handshakes but not hugs, and actually tells the boys how he’d rank all of them (with rankings subject to change based on performance, of course). Like a relative of first-act Gordon Bombay, the elder Von Erich values winning above all, and the young wrestlers’ mom Doris (Maura Tierney) isn’t a lot more supportive. Early on, Kevin seeks her support in his belief that Dad’s being too hard on Mike, the youngest brother who’s more drawn to music than wrestling. “That’s what brothers are for,” Mom says when Kevin asks to talk. Even later, when Mom identifies that her husband used to be a well-rounded person (a scholarship clarinet student!), it’s as if the past is unreachable and nearly irrelevant. Throughout “The Iron Claw” — named for dad’s signature move that also represents a false strength placed on top of uncontrollable heartache — is a sense of how dim the light can be when a family exists under a parent’s psychologically damaging shade.
If the feeling is strong, the connective tissue could use work. Durkin references a local legend of a family curse that the boys can’t help but believe after one horrible event after another takes place, yet “The Iron Claw” sometimes seems to exist behind a certain curtain, like part of the movie we’re watching isn’t actually being shown to us. Perhaps that’s by design, reflecting the unreachable satisfaction felt by characters who strive without wanting, or want without understanding, or achieve without enjoying. Or the mental health that slips away without resources, or just the shock of death out of nowhere. The line between real and simulated pain isn’t always clear.
The cast is all excellent, with Efron delivering a starring role that also knows his character can’t and doesn’t dominate. Kevin is conflicted in about 12 different ways, and the actor demonstrates the weight that sits on his character’s shoulders without suggesting it’s being carried, only held. I wanted more of everyone else too, including Dickinson (so good in “Triangle of Sadness”) and Lily James as Kevin’s eventual wife Pam. “Did your folks not teach you how to ask questions?” she asks him when they first meet, wondering why this low-key block of muscle is so lousy with words.
“The Iron Claw” creates that same curiosity, wanting to draw it out, root alongside it, and simultaneously celebrating what is and longing for what could have been.
B
NEW: WANT TO SETTLE A MOVIE DEBATE, TALK ABOUT '90S FAVORITES, OR EVEN HAVE YOUR SHORT HOME MOVIE REVIEWED? BOOK A VIDEO FROM MATT VIA CAMEO
ORDER “TALK ‘90S WITH ME: 23 UNPREDICTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH STARS OF AN UNFORGETTABLE DECADE”
Matt’s new book arrived Sept. 27, 2022, and Richard Roeper raves: “Matt Pais deserves four stars for reintroducing us to many of the greatly talented but often unsung heroes of 1990s film. This is a terrific read.”
ARE YOU A “SAVED BY THE BELL” FAN?
Order “Zack Morris Lied 329 Times! Reassessing every ridiculous episode of ‘Saved by the Bell’ … with stats” (featuring interviews with 22 cast members, plus the co-founder of Saved by the Max and the creator of “Zack Morris is Trash”)
GET 100 STORIES FOR JUST $4.99