Sports biopics can be either hit or miss.
Raging Bull is the famous Oscar-winning film by Martin Scorsese about tortured heavyweight boxer Jake La Motta, but it only features ten minutes of actual boxing. Seabiscuit is about the challenges of a businessman, a horse trainer, and a jockey who all worked together to make an undersized racehorse become a global phenomenon. 42 focused on the rise of budding star Jackie Robinson as he broke the colour barrier to become the first black athlete in Major League Baseball. However, there are sports-based features that tend to focus on recreations of famous sporting events but don’t offer much insight into the athletes themselves. Some films, like the intense thriller Foxcatcher, attempt to tap into the psyche of what drives individuals to push themselves toward the highest level of competition. Others show the physical, mental, and emotional tolls that sports take on athletes, such as concussions. Yet there have not been many films about professional wrestlers and what they have to endure inside and outside of the ring.
The Iron Claw is the latest offering for the sports biopic genre. Based on a tragic true story, the film pulls no punches in showing what wrestling is really like. Sure, some critics dismiss the sport as “fake” or “scripted”, but they don’t understand how wrestlers throw themselves- literally and figuratively- into their passion. Indeed, wrestling could be considered an art form like ballet, because the wrestlers strive to the pinnacle of perfection.
Set from 1979 to 1992, the film is centered around the Von Erich family, a team of brothers competing in professional wrestling. Their signature technique is the finishing “Iron Claw” maneuver, hence the title. Kevin (Zac Efron) is the eldest and most dedicated to the sport, and he aims to become a world heavyweight champion. Second-eldest David is the most amiable, but despite being the largest, he feels somewhat inadequate and not as good as his brothers. Third son Kerry is the strongest of the family, and he’s aiming to compete in the upcoming 1980 Summer Olympics. Finally, Michael doesn’t have much of an interest in wrestling for a career, because his talent and aspirations lie in being a professional musician. Leading the family is mother Doris (Maura Tierney) and strong-willed patriarch Jack “Fritz” Von Erich (Holt McCannay), who runs the World Class Championship Wrestling Association. Fritz feels his sons have a chance to win fame and glory. The reason for Fritz pushing them so hard is because he feels robbed of a wrestling career of his own back in the 1950s and 1960s. As the father of the family, he places rankings on which sons are most in favour with him, and the boys are warned that his rankings can change at any time. Needless to say, the pressure is palpable.
While at a tag team match, David makes his debut fighting alongside Kevin, which becomes a success. After the match, Kevin meets a young lady named Pam (Lily James), and he is instantly smitten with her. Despite his awkwardness at talking to women, he finds a connection, and the two hit it off on their first date at a bar. However, Pam is shaken to learn the Von Erich clan is still reeling from a tragedy that happened twenty-odd years earlier. Shortly before his birth, Kevin had an elder brother named Jack who drowned in a freak accident at the age of five. The family believes that they have a curse of sorts placed upon them because Fritz changed his name from Adkisson to Von Erich as a young man. For this reason, Kevin is wary about having children with the Von Erich name. Nevertheless, he soon marries Pam, and they settle into a happy domestic life.
Kerry’s hopes of Olympic glory are ruined by the 1980 Summer Olympic boycott of protests against Russia invading Afghanistan, and he returns home embittered by the dream being
stolen from him. Fritz sees this as an opportunity for Kerry to join his brothers in the WCCW as a family tag team. Meanwhile, David shows natural prowess as a fighter, and Fritz senses this could be a great opportunity for him. Kevin competes for a heavyweight title and manages to win, but it is only the result of his opponent being disqualified for assaulting a referee. Despite the victory, Kevin feels that he didn’t truly “win” or deserve the title, and he is not fully satisfied with his performance. As for Mike, he is more or less pressured by Fritz into forgoing music and taking up wrestling as a career.
During the mid to late 1980s, the Von Erichs begin to feel the effects that wrestling has taken on them. Kerry loses part of his foot in a motorcycle accident, and he teaches himself how to walk and wrestle with a prosthetic foot over many months. He fears he can’t compete at the top level and worries he’ll no longer have a future as a wrestler. Fritz promises to keep him going as a competitor, but the only gigs Kerry can get are local in-house shows. Mike is struggling with the effects of being knocked into a coma from a match, which includes some signs of brain damage. Undaunted, Fritz plans to send his son on a wrestling tour, and Mike agonizes over the prospect of being sent back into the ring. Finally, Kevin is having marital difficulties with Pam, who is concerned her husband is being worn down too much by his father and the sport of wrestling. Kevin does some investigating and discovers he and the brothers are not making as much money as they are owed. It appears that Fritz has been skimming off their box office sales to finance the family lifestyle. This forces Kevin to make a tough decision about what kind of life he wants.
Zac Efron carries the film with a dramatic performance as Kevin. The 36-year-old has come a long way from his charismatic teen idol era of High School Musical and Hairspray. In preparation for this film, Efron has put on forty pounds of muscle to closely resemble Kevin. No longer is this a boy but a mature, confident man who’s not afraid to challenge himself. The early scenes of him courting and wooing Pam are both awkwardly funny and sweet as he attempts to find confidence in asking her out. Efron’s quiet moments with his brothers and wife are among the most heartwarming scenes in the narrative. Perhaps his most heartbreaking moment is softly weeping while seeing his young songs play football while reflecting on his own brothers. It is clear that he’s come a long way as an actor.
The biggest surprise is Jeremy Alan White, who delivers a compelling take on Kerry. Having shot to fame on the Shameless television series, White has proven himself a capable leading man. His performance is that of a man who doesn’t feel he is on par with Kevin, and this leaves him feeling not worthy to be a champion. The scene of him grappling with losing a shot at the Olympics is quietly somber and moving to watch. Viewers can almost feel his quiet frustration at being robbed of such a chance and a growing sense of insecurity.
Harris Dickinson is moving as David. While he isn’t as loud or as overt as Efron and White, he brings a sense of dependability to the role. Dickinson’s presence onscreen is a welcome one because he’s the most level-headed of the four protagonists. Although he has a knack for wrestling, he knows he is not as strong or passionate as his older brothers, yet he continues to give it his all.
Lily James does as well as Pam. Despite having most of her screen time with Efron, she brings a warm, likable presence to the character. It is her attraction for and relationship with Kevin that allows the narrative to explore the family dynamic. James’ best scene is when she calls out her husband on how he’s become a puppet and lapdog to his taskmaster of a father. One could almost say Pam is the audience surrogate who slowly uncovers what drives the Von Erich clan to success and self-destruction.
The rest of the cast does well in their roles. Holt McCannay is tough and gripping as Fritz, who does not suffer fools lightly. He sees his sons as a chance to solidify the family’s legacy and earn the glory he feels was denied to him. It is both shocking and infuriating to see this man heap praise and admiration on one particular son who pleases him while holding the others in varying lower degrees. Maura Tierney offers maternal warmth and comfort as Doris, but she finds it hard to assert herself or her sons’ well-being against Fritz. Her most emotional moment comes at having to attend a funeral, in which she fears having to put on a black dress yet again. It makes one wonder how the real Doris put up with high-pressed competitiveness for so long. Stanley Simons is both endearing and heartbreaking as Mike, who never really wanted to be a wrestler to begin with. His desire to pursue music as a career makes him interesting as a character, but it is also tragic to see him being pushed down a different path.
While largely accurate, The Iron Claw has been getting some criticism from critics and fans. This is mostly due to the omission of the youngest brother Chris, who does not appear in the movie at all. Being a decade younger than Kevin and Kerry, Chris was very short at 5’5 feet and struggled with brittle bones, which prevented him from being successful as a professional wrestler on the level of his brothers. He also had severe asthma, which made his efforts at wrestling even more sadder. Ultimately, he committed suicide in 1991 at the age of 21. Yet it should be noted the film is not purporting to be a documentary, and there is only so much time to give each character focus in the story. In addition, having Chris’s arc being depicted would have felt like extra padding or tacked on the film. Giving focus to Kevin, Kerry, David, Michael, their parents, and Pam are the focus of the story. The filmmakers have said including Chris would have felt too over the top or unbelievable, considering the narrative has a lot of tragedy depicted onscreen. What’s more, the script originally had Chris’ tragic struggles, but Durkin chose to cut it before production began. In an interview with Variety, he explained “There was a repetition to it, and it was one more tragedy that the film couldn’t withstand. I honestly don’t know if it would have gotten made.” Although the omission of Chris makes sense, it is still frustrating to wrestling fans who feel the whole story wasn’t told in full. Kevin Von Erich himself praised the film and Efron’s performance, but in an interview on the Talk is Jericho podcast, he feels the portrayal of Fritz is “pretty rank.” He also took issue with the way the movie portrayed his brothers’ issues mostly stemming from their father’s treatment of them, because Kerry and David struggled with drug addiction at the height of their fame.
Another issue is Aaron Dean Eisenberg’s depiction of Ric Flair, whom the film makes out to be an egotistical braggart. Eisenberg has been accused of not playing an accurate depiction of the wrestler, but it must be remembered Flair is quite different in person than the alter ego he portrayed in the ring. Also, Flair was very devoted to the sport of wrestling, and he retained respect for the Von Erich family.
The film also omits the brothers’ legal and substance abuse issues. While it is not a major focus, the Von Erichs are using steroids and performance-enhancing substances to bulk up. Both Kerry and Mike are shown injecting themselves to get through matches. In addition, Kerry’s motorcycle accident is covered within the movie, but the narrative doesn’t explore how the pain contributed to his growing painkiller addiction and subsequent brushes with the law.
Overall, The Iron Claw is quite a gripping character drama. Efron, White, Dickinson, James, and McCannay deliver strong performances. This is one of the year’s best films. Four and a half out of five stars.
