As someone who has been a fan of professional wrestling for over a decade now, it really hurts that - even after a second viewing - I've come away from The Iron Claw not quite knowing how to feel about it. The first time I saw it I wanted to hate it, but the second time around I just realised what an unfortunate mess this movie really is. I knew going into The Iron Claw that it would make me sad. And it did. But not for the reasons that it should have.
The actual in-ring work, of which there is very little overall, is executed to a passable degree, but ultimately it contributes very little to the narrative, only cropping up every twenty minutes or so to hold the film together and signify a break in the story. Where the matches depicted in the film can to varying degrees in quality be watched today, they have this hazy, almost otherworldly quality to them which I can't quite decide whether I like or not; on the one hand I like it because it gives each match the feeling as though its being presented as how a fan in the audience would remember it, but on the other hand I dislike it because it gives the wresting scenes this uncanny valley vibe: I recognise what I'm watching because I've seen it before, yet it looks different all the same. However, the black and white prologue with Fritz wrestling was captivating and I honestly wished the segment had lasted longer; you ingeniously introduce Fritz von Erich to the audience as a heel and that never changes throughout the film. It just perfectly encapsulated the feel of that period of American professional wrestling and it's easily the high point of in-ring action for the movie.
I say that not with the intention of taking anything away from the subsequent wrestling scenes, but they do not work as well as the first one we see, and for one very simple reason. In Darren Aronofsky's 'The Wrestler,' Mickey Rourke, though playing a fictional character, managed to flawlessly impersonate an aging wrestler. I believe his performance in that movie. In the case of The Iron Claw what you have is different. You have actors pretending to be real characters in wrestling and it just looks so incredibly odd that it took me out of the moment for every wrestling scene. The biggest offenders by far though are the actors playing Harley Race and Ric Flair; the former looks nothing like his real-life counterpart and the latter couldn't be any further removed from Ric Flair if he tried, his performance made me cringe far too much for what would come next in the film after Kevin von Erich's title match with Flair. Nevertheless, to give credit where credit is due, Zac Efron evidently received the most training for these scenes since he is the only family member to be seen wrestling extensively - it was blatantly obvious that this was the case when the film omits Kerry von Erich's title victory and the viewer only hears about it from the match commentary being played non-diegetically over the backdrop of the family's ranch.
It may seem odd to critique such a minor part of what is at its core a family drama, but if you've watched wrestling for any length of time it's just something you can't help but pick up on watching this film. My main issue with the film is simply that it tries to accomplish too much. The film is evidently a passion project on the part of director Sean Durkin, but he really struggled when it came to quality control over the script - something he has been very vocal about in interviews - and it really does show when you're watching it. Aspects of the film like Doris's strained relationship with Fritz, or the family's relationship with religion, are only briefly touched upon or in some cases mentioned once and never again. The Iron Claw struggles most when it comes to maximising its minutes. You can't include every tiny detail about the von Erich's into a movie that's only just over two hours long, and it feels to me as though this could have easily been cut down to two hours and the movie would flow much better for it. Where the film does try to tell you everything it can about the grappling dynasty within the confines of its runtime, it became clear to me that this was a film made for a more general audience and not necessarily the wrestling fanbase who would inevitably have been intrigued by it regardless. It's painfully obvious that that's the case for numerous scenes throughout the film, for example Kevin's date with his future wife Pam; Kevin von Erich would never in a million years have exposed the business on a first date with a random woman whom he had never met. And that's because the exposition Kevin is spouting isn't intended for Pam's ears, it's meant for the members of the audience who have little to no knowledge of what pro-wrestling is. Another scene is the aftermath of Kerry's motorcycle crash. The wrestling fan in the audience knows that Kerry lost a foot as a result of that accident, but the general audience member does not, and the slow reveal of that scene relies on you not knowing what happened to Kerry. Structuring the film for a general audience and a wrestling audience is where this film goes wrong, since from here it takes too many liberties with the family's history. And that's not to mention the countless throwaway lines that would understandably fly over the casual fan's head, such as Fritz referencing Kerry's WWF partner "Hellwig," or Kevin confronting his father about why the books for WCCW don't add up. There are so many times when I found myself questioning who this movie was made for. It tried to appeal to wrestling fans and casual viewers alike, but this is clearly a movie only a casual viewer could like, since anyone familiar with American professional wrestling or more broadly the von Erichs just finds too many issues with this movie to enjoy it.
If I was rating The Iron Claw purely on the final twenty minutes it would be an undisputed masterpiece, which has the beautifully uplifting ending of showing Kevin on his ranch with his four children and thirteen great-grandchildren. It was a much-needed hope spot after what is a very bleak movie to sit through, so the inclusion of that photograph was greatly appreciated and I'm sure it brought a modicum of solace to every audience member regardless of how familiar with the von Erich family you are. The final twenty minutes of the film is an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions for even the hardest of hearts, but it still doesn't make up for the failings of the rest of the film. The one thing I absolutely cannot look past, nor do I understand why this 'creative' choice was made, but there was no clear reason in my mind why Chris von Erich should have been entirely cut from this film. Merging his story with Kevin's other brothers just felt gross and disrespectful regardless of the excuse made for doing so. The story of the von Erich family is a story of excessive tragedy - a crucial moment of which is the suicide of a twenty-one-year-old man, who due to his asthma and brittle bone condition couldn't so much as take a bump in the ring without breaking bones, being in unimaginable agony, and feeling like a disappointment to the family name by failing to live up to his domineering father's image of him. Chris's story is arguably the most tragic of the entire family, so to try and lessen the tragedy of the von Erich's is borderline paradoxical, because either you tell the story of the von Erichs or you don't. It's a decision which is as hurtful as it is baffling, since I can't understand why you would include the seldom mentioned Jack Adkisson Jr. But have Chris von Erich completely absent from the narrative. It makes no logical sense to me since Durkin has spent years working on this script and all it amounts to is a surface level exploration of one of wrestling's biggest tragedies which realistically any wrestling documentary could tell in a better and more honest manner. The Iron Claw is missing far too much for it to be considered a complete story. As it stands, the film is a tragedy - one which is desperately lacking its fifth act.
The actual in-ring work, of which there is very little overall, is executed to a passable degree, but ultimately it contributes very little to the narrative, only cropping up every twenty minutes or so to hold the film together and signify a break in the story. Where the matches depicted in the film can to varying degrees in quality be watched today, they have this hazy, almost otherworldly quality to them which I can't quite decide whether I like or not; on the one hand I like it because it gives each match the feeling as though its being presented as how a fan in the audience would remember it, but on the other hand I dislike it because it gives the wresting scenes this uncanny valley vibe: I recognise what I'm watching because I've seen it before, yet it looks different all the same. However, the black and white prologue with Fritz wrestling was captivating and I honestly wished the segment had lasted longer; you ingeniously introduce Fritz von Erich to the audience as a heel and that never changes throughout the film. It just perfectly encapsulated the feel of that period of American professional wrestling and it's easily the high point of in-ring action for the movie.
I say that not with the intention of taking anything away from the subsequent wrestling scenes, but they do not work as well as the first one we see, and for one very simple reason. In Darren Aronofsky's 'The Wrestler,' Mickey Rourke, though playing a fictional character, managed to flawlessly impersonate an aging wrestler. I believe his performance in that movie. In the case of The Iron Claw what you have is different. You have actors pretending to be real characters in wrestling and it just looks so incredibly odd that it took me out of the moment for every wrestling scene. The biggest offenders by far though are the actors playing Harley Race and Ric Flair; the former looks nothing like his real-life counterpart and the latter couldn't be any further removed from Ric Flair if he tried, his performance made me cringe far too much for what would come next in the film after Kevin von Erich's title match with Flair. Nevertheless, to give credit where credit is due, Zac Efron evidently received the most training for these scenes since he is the only family member to be seen wrestling extensively - it was blatantly obvious that this was the case when the film omits Kerry von Erich's title victory and the viewer only hears about it from the match commentary being played non-diegetically over the backdrop of the family's ranch.
It may seem odd to critique such a minor part of what is at its core a family drama, but if you've watched wrestling for any length of time it's just something you can't help but pick up on watching this film. My main issue with the film is simply that it tries to accomplish too much. The film is evidently a passion project on the part of director Sean Durkin, but he really struggled when it came to quality control over the script - something he has been very vocal about in interviews - and it really does show when you're watching it. Aspects of the film like Doris's strained relationship with Fritz, or the family's relationship with religion, are only briefly touched upon or in some cases mentioned once and never again. The Iron Claw struggles most when it comes to maximising its minutes. You can't include every tiny detail about the von Erich's into a movie that's only just over two hours long, and it feels to me as though this could have easily been cut down to two hours and the movie would flow much better for it. Where the film does try to tell you everything it can about the grappling dynasty within the confines of its runtime, it became clear to me that this was a film made for a more general audience and not necessarily the wrestling fanbase who would inevitably have been intrigued by it regardless. It's painfully obvious that that's the case for numerous scenes throughout the film, for example Kevin's date with his future wife Pam; Kevin von Erich would never in a million years have exposed the business on a first date with a random woman whom he had never met. And that's because the exposition Kevin is spouting isn't intended for Pam's ears, it's meant for the members of the audience who have little to no knowledge of what pro-wrestling is. Another scene is the aftermath of Kerry's motorcycle crash. The wrestling fan in the audience knows that Kerry lost a foot as a result of that accident, but the general audience member does not, and the slow reveal of that scene relies on you not knowing what happened to Kerry. Structuring the film for a general audience and a wrestling audience is where this film goes wrong, since from here it takes too many liberties with the family's history. And that's not to mention the countless throwaway lines that would understandably fly over the casual fan's head, such as Fritz referencing Kerry's WWF partner "Hellwig," or Kevin confronting his father about why the books for WCCW don't add up. There are so many times when I found myself questioning who this movie was made for. It tried to appeal to wrestling fans and casual viewers alike, but this is clearly a movie only a casual viewer could like, since anyone familiar with American professional wrestling or more broadly the von Erichs just finds too many issues with this movie to enjoy it.
If I was rating The Iron Claw purely on the final twenty minutes it would be an undisputed masterpiece, which has the beautifully uplifting ending of showing Kevin on his ranch with his four children and thirteen great-grandchildren. It was a much-needed hope spot after what is a very bleak movie to sit through, so the inclusion of that photograph was greatly appreciated and I'm sure it brought a modicum of solace to every audience member regardless of how familiar with the von Erich family you are. The final twenty minutes of the film is an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions for even the hardest of hearts, but it still doesn't make up for the failings of the rest of the film. The one thing I absolutely cannot look past, nor do I understand why this 'creative' choice was made, but there was no clear reason in my mind why Chris von Erich should have been entirely cut from this film. Merging his story with Kevin's other brothers just felt gross and disrespectful regardless of the excuse made for doing so. The story of the von Erich family is a story of excessive tragedy - a crucial moment of which is the suicide of a twenty-one-year-old man, who due to his asthma and brittle bone condition couldn't so much as take a bump in the ring without breaking bones, being in unimaginable agony, and feeling like a disappointment to the family name by failing to live up to his domineering father's image of him. Chris's story is arguably the most tragic of the entire family, so to try and lessen the tragedy of the von Erich's is borderline paradoxical, because either you tell the story of the von Erichs or you don't. It's a decision which is as hurtful as it is baffling, since I can't understand why you would include the seldom mentioned Jack Adkisson Jr. But have Chris von Erich completely absent from the narrative. It makes no logical sense to me since Durkin has spent years working on this script and all it amounts to is a surface level exploration of one of wrestling's biggest tragedies which realistically any wrestling documentary could tell in a better and more honest manner. The Iron Claw is missing far too much for it to be considered a complete story. As it stands, the film is a tragedy - one which is desperately lacking its fifth act.
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