Brothers Inside And Out Of The Ring: ‘The Iron Claw’ Reviewed

While it’s not true of all – or even most – movies, some films it’s better to have spoiled in advance and Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw is one of them. It’s a story that no amount of knowing can soften. All knowing does is make a viewer better able to assess if they’re in the right state of mind to watch a film involving so much loss that a person would think Durkin was being excessive if it weren’t based on a true story (and that’s with Durkin making the creative decision to leave some people out).

Whether or not the Von Erich family was cursed, the love between the Von Erich brothers was real, and that’s what The Iron Claw is primarily about. Pushed by their father (Holt McCallany) to become the best wrestlers in the world, it wasn’t always the case that all four living brothers were supposed to end up in the ring. Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) was supposed to be an Olympian, except it was the year the US didn’t go to the Olympics in Moscow (it cannot be emphasized enough how much the Von Erichs didn’t catch breaks).

While it’s never suggested that the brothers were unhappy fighting together or wanted to quit, any joy they find in the ring is counteracted by the pressure to make money and their father’s habit of pitting them against each other. Usually in sports films that would lead to some kind of falling out or scenes of in-fighting between the brothers. That’s one area where The Iron Claw defies expectations, though, in a way that’s really refreshing – in showing the effort the brothers made not to take their anger or jealousies out on each other.

Another plus is Durkin’s movie doesn’t get bogged down with recreating matches that the brothers fought. That isn’t to say there aren’t matches (and Aaron Dean Eisenberg makes an impression as Ric Flair) but Durkin realizes the real value is in showing the brothers together outside of wrestling (like when Kevin [Zac Efron] and David [Harris Dickinson] share a one-on-one conversation in a bathroom stall at Kevin’s wedding or when all of the brothers help Mike [Stanley Simons] sneak out to perform at a gig that their parents didn’t want him to attend).

Due to the time constraints of being a movie (and the speed at which the brothers died), once the deaths start they don’t let up, bringing new meaning to the Von Erichs’ “the show must go on” mentality. On the one hand, the whiplash of being confronted with that much grief in quick succession is the only way of coming close to recreating what it must have felt like for the Von Erichs to go through that much trauma back-to-back. If viewers can’t process it, they certainly couldn’t, and if a character dying off-screen feels harsh, it could only have been worse for the loved ones who didn’t get to say goodbye.

The Iron Claw is probably the best a film version about the Von Erichs could be. The question is whether another format – like a miniseries where each family member could’ve been given their own episode – might’ve been a better way of giving each person, and the actors who played them, enough attention. It also might’ve meant that Durkin wouldn’t have felt it necessary to not include David and Kerry’s families or Chris Von Erich (a sixth Von Erich brother that the film leaves out).

This Blu-ray release could’ve been another opportunity to bring up Chris or talk about the details the film wasn’t able to touch on, and Simons does mention in the behind-the-scenes featurette that his character was meant to be a combination of Mike and Chris, but there’s no video essay or documentary to provide additional context.

The behind-the-scenes featurette does include talking heads with some of the crew, including production designer, James Price (who recreated the Sportatorium), costume designer, Jennifer Starzyk, wrestling choreographer, Chavo Guerrero Jr., and prop master, Stephen Noell (who created the championship belts).

There’s also a cast Q&A led by the always great Jenelle Riley, whose tradition of opening SAG panels by asking actors how they got their SAG card hits gold with Efron sharing that he got his on an episode of ER with Maura Tierney (who plays the brothers’ mom). The real Kevin Von Erich is also in attendance. Kevin wasn’t a producer on the film and saw it for first time at the premiere but his sons, Ross and Marshall, appear as background wrestlers and his niece, Hollie, visited the set. It not a long enough interview for the number of people on stage to get enough time to speak, but it’s still a nice inclusion.

The Iron Claw is available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Lionsgate.