Having first dismissed this film because of Zac Efron’s distracting bowl cut, I was surprised when it brought me to tears. The Iron Claw, directed by Sean Durkin, follows the Von Erich family, a wrestling dynasty plagued by tragedy. Efron stars as Kevin Von Erich, the second favorite son. Not only does he pull off a bowl cut, he also puts on a damn good Texan accent, rocks straight-fit eighties-style light-wash jeans, and sentimentally depicts the tragic pressures of growing up with a helicopter parent of a father.
The film reads like a memory of a complete family, as more and more brothers tragically fall victim to what they call the “curse.” The camera’s smudged lens and flickering shutter give the impression of a faded memory. This effect is emphasized during one of the opening scenes, as the camera pans over to a cabinet case holding guns and trophies to preface the kind of parenting the father displays. The family patriarch Fritz Von Erich pits the five brothers against each other and plays favorites, saying “rankings can always change”—an unfortunate statement for Kevin, whose character is the perennial second favorite.
The Iron Claw gets its name from the wrestling move invented by Fritz, wherein one wrestler palms and crushes the head of their opponent. Although I’m still not quite sure how effective the move actually is—the one time Kevin tries to use this move, he is disqualified—it is increasingly clear that the real “Iron Claw” is the grip Fritz uses to control his children. Fritz attempts to live vicariously through his sons and forces them to fulfill his dreams of wrestling success, leading to a lack of individuality. Fritz may be building fighters out in the ring, but in their family life, his sons are stripped of their autonomy and treated like young, unknowing children. It doesn’t help that they all have the same Brady Bunch haircut.
Despite being a wrestling film, nowhere does The Iron Claw depict the one-dimensional highs and lows of a fe-fi-fo-fum sports victory. Wrestling scenes play a secondary role to the intense scenes of family drama. Even the scenes of brotherly love come off as sensitive in nature and never feels “bro-y.”
The increasing tragedy of the film comes because of the Von Erichs’ unluckiness in escaping the family “curse” of premature death that affected the eldest brother, as well as other members of the family. Eventually, Kevin is left brotherless, and resentful towards his father for not taking care of his brothers.
Overall, while The Iron Claw doesn’t get all the details of the real-life story of the Von Erichs, it tenderly depicts the pressure cooker-life that the Von Erich brothers lived. You know it’s a good movie when Zac Efron in a bowl cut makes you cry.