The Iron Claw
2023
**½
Director: Sean Durkin
Cast: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Stanley Simons, Holt McCallany, Maura Tierney, Lily James, Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF), Brady Pierce, Aaron Dean Eisenberg
Sean Durkin's biographical drama chronicles the triumphs and tribulations of the Von Erich wrestling family in the 1980s and 1990s. The controlling and uncompromising Fritz Von Erich wants to establish a wrestling dynasty through his sons Kevin, David, Kerry, and Mike. The focus is on Kevin, the oldest brother who has the athleticism but not the showmanship, who becomes convinced that the family is cursed. Pro wrestling is a confounding mix of sport and performance that I will never understand, even less so when there's talk of winning a world championship. Needless to say, the wrestling scenes are uninteresting. The film is at its best when it allows the four brothers to hang around together and bond. In the second half, tragic events follow one another in quick succession, but they make little impact because the individual brothers are so superficially sketched, and each tragedy is given no time to sink in. In fact, the family suffered so much misfortune, that Durkin was compelled to leave out one of the brothers to make the story more palatable. Although the performances are good, the vertically challenged Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White hardly pass as heavyweight wrestlers.
