If you’re a fan of pro wrestling, then you know all about the Von Erich family, the pro wrestling dynasty that rose to fame in the 1980s and had a tragic — and I do mean tragic — fall.
While far from the only one, theirs was perhaps worse than any other.
The story begins with Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany), a star of the National Wrestling Alliance back in the 1960s. Despite having a significant star presence during that period, he never won the big championship — known proverbially as the ‘Ten Pounds of Gold.’
As the years went on, his sons grew up and they started to find themselves as key figures in the wrestling business, working for their father’s promotion, World Class Championship Wrestling based in Dallas, Texas.
Kevin Von Erich (Zac Efron) is the second oldest son, followed by David, Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), Mike, and Chris.
The group became very popular as a tag team in the 1980s, especially with the ladies, and the rivalries against teams such as the Fabulous Freebirds took the sensation of the Von Erich boys nationwide.
All except Kevin meet a morose end. If you know the story, then you know at its heart are classic themes of dysfunction, drugs, and suicide.
Every fan going in knows the nitty gritty, but The Iron Claw is a great film for normie audiences, too, who have not been previously exposed to how pro wrestling worked during the Territory days.
For you hardcore marks who in some cases remember that time, and for those younger folks who’ve been watching wrestling long enough, a lot of the names and gimmicks you see will be very familiar to you.
Now, don’t assume that you have to be a pro wrestling fanatic by any stretch to watch and understand this movie at its core. Iron Claw is a film that is all about family values, which most people can identify with — even if this isn’t a brood you’d want to be a part of.
However, for such a big clan, the film finds a focus in the most obvious place — Efron’s portrayal of Kevin. He is essentially the avatar that the audience is meant to identify with when it comes to their dynamic, which can be summed up by the two most important things at work: family and wrestling.
Efron deserves a lot of credit for the physical transformation he went through to become Kevin in the flesh at a young age, and should earn Oscar contention. Atmosphere and setting-wise, the film closely mirrors what the pro wrestling world was like back then.
So many wrestlers died young during this period due to a combination of factors — being on the road for most of the year while drinking, taking steroids, and doing cocaine, painkillers, and God knows what else.
This recipe for disaster takes a toll on the rapidly deteriorating family structure which is a cage already rattled by emotional abuse and generational trauma, leading to all the drugs and suicide.
Whatever the real-life complexities, the film places much of the blame on the shoulders of Fritz, whose uncompromising parenting style was unhealthy according to many recollections by people who were there.
The biggest flaw in this film is, despite being faithful to reality, several characters don’t get enough time to shine or at least flesh out who exactly they were before their untimely demise.
At the same time, it is excusable given how there’s so much lore about the Von Erich family that can’t possibly be covered in a two-hour motion picture.
Maybe a miniseries would’ve been a better idea, but The Iron Claw is certainly one of the top films of the year. Fair warning, it won’t be an easy watch for anyone, especially if you have a checkered past with your own family.
A sports movie and a drama, this film is a stellar genre-bender that delivers an emotionally charged performance from everyone involved. I guarantee it will hit hard whether you’re a fan of the sport or not.
Pro wrestling may be ‘fake,’ but this story about the greatest family in the business certainly isn’t.
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