The opening scenes of THE IRON CLAW are a bold directorial statement, presenting a wrestling ring in sharp black and white before focusing on the sweat and pain of the competitors in agonising slow motion. This intro would be a fearless path for Durkin at the best of times, but the invocation of Scorsese’s iconic RAGING BULL is an ambitious homage to lay down.
Fortunately, Sean Durkin’s third feature, powered by the pathos of Zac Efron’s lead performance, augments the heartbreaking real-life tale of the Von Erich wrestling dynasty with enough observations about family and masculinity to build a rounded and engaging on-screen tragedy. The film’s flashback opening sees Fritz Vin Erich (Holt McCallany) emerge from the featured wrestling match to show his wife, Doris (Maura Tierney), and two sons, Kevin and David, a new car he has bought. His big shot is coming, and he can feel it. The mindset that will underpin all the family tragedy to follow is laid out, as he explains they can “rely on no one but ourselves”, and they need to be “the toughest, the strongest”.
Fast forward to 1979, and adult Kevin (Zac Efron) has followed his father into wrestling. Fritz continues to push all his sons, of which he now has four (a fifth died while very young), to damaging lengths in the name of success and projecting strength. He seemingly lives vicariously through his children while remaining emotionally unavailable, even as new tragedies hit the family.
“McCallany’s intransigent role as Fritz will undoubtedly position one of the twenty-first century’s social bêtes noires – toxic masculinity – as the ‘heel’ of the piece. However, THE IRON CLAW plays with strands beyond this…”
The Fritz in Durkin’s script is a different shade of male toxicity than that seen in his previous features. He is not materialistic in the way Jude Law’s character in THE NEST was, nor controlling in the manner of John Hawkes’s Patrick in MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE. Instead, he is the vehicle through which to display the poisonous influence of the stereotypical masculine drive for strength and invulnerability. The best window through which to view the impact of this life ethos is Kevin, the son continually passed over by his father.
Kevin seems to play second fiddle to his younger brothers despite having followed his father’s career. David is the more naturally showy wrestler, and shot-putter Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) – brought into the ring when the boycott of the 1980 Moscow games dashes his Olympic hopes – is more naturally athletic. However, Kevin develops a protective instinct for his youngest brother, Mike, whose less obviously butch nature draws his father’s disappointment (and pressure from him to wrestle). As tragedy continually envelopes the Von Erichs – who make reference to a family ‘curse’ – Kevin begins to drift from his new family with Pam (Lily James), and his frustration with his father’s quest for a family legacy Fritz deems worthy.
McCallany’s intransigent role as Fritz will undoubtedly position one of the twenty-first century’s social bêtes noires – toxic masculinity – as the ‘heel’ of the piece. However, THE IRON CLAW plays with strands beyond this, about parenthood, what a good parent is, and how you let seemingly inescapable grief or familial failings define you. The corrosive machismo on show may be the catalysing angle, but Kevin’s central role allows the film to explore others and harness a deeply affecting (probably career-best) performance from Zac Efron.
“The corrosive machismo on show may be the catalysing angle, but Kevin’s central role allows the film to explore others and harness a deeply affecting (probably career-best) performance from Zac Efron.”
On top of this weightier thematic work, Kevin’s conversation with Pam about the showmanship of wrestling and how the ‘fake’ sport works is probably the best summation of its validity for non-wrestling fans than most other ones put to film or video. The promos for the Von Erichs’ fights are lovingly recreated in a retro video aesthetic, and the fight sequences balance the occasional hokiness of the spectacle with the frequently bruising results.
THE IRON CLAW is a familiar arena for Sean Durkin in terms of themes. Still, it has its own signature moves and an emotional core in Efron that will wrestle empathy from even the most outwardly macho soul.