IN THE DARK REVIEWS

'The Iron Claw' recaptures electric era of pro wrestling

Kirk Boxleitner | Jan 25, 20240

Courtesy photo count

Zac Efron flies high as Kevin Von Erich in "The Iron Claw."

It's a measure of how far pop culture has progressed that "The Iron Claw" is neither Zac Efron's first critically praised performance, nor is it the first film about professional wrestling to earn critical acclaim.

"The Wrestler" revitalized Mickey Rourke's career 16 years ago, and Efron's performance was the best thing about "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" five years ago, but what still makes "The Iron Claw" stand out is how successfully it simulates a specific era of professional wrestling.

Get ready for yet another rant from your Eighties-obsessed Uncle Kirk about the zeitgeist he grew up in, but professional wrestling from the late 1970s through the first half of the 1980s had an electric on-the-launchpad frisson.

The professional wrestling industry was still balkanized among countless regional promotional affiliations, but with the rise of cable TV, it was just starting to break through to the mainstream media, and Fritz Von Erich was ready for it, because while he'd aged out of the squared circle himself, he'd raised a herd of boys who had the combined skills to take the field by storm.

Kevin (Efron) was a powerhouse workhorse, while David (Harris Dickinson) turned out to be a personality kid on the mic, and Kerry (Jeremy Allen White, from "The Bear") was an Olympic-level talent.

While the trio of brothers performed together brilliantly in tag-team matches, none of them individually possessed all the skills they would have needed to become the champions their dad wanted them to be.

After decades of solid supporting performances, veteran character actor Holt McCallany seizes his role as Fritz Von Erich by the throat and refuses to let the audience's attentions go.

McCallany plays the elder Von Erich as a fascinating beast, a Joe Jackson-style warlock of a disciplinarian who's unrepentant about ranking his sons' value according to their latest showings in the ring.

And yet, as much as the Von Erich boys turned to unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with the stresses put on them by their father, what's undeniable is how much genuine joy they radiated when they were able to team up, go through their signature moves and generate cheers from the crowds.I especially got a kick out of the scenes contrasting the Von Erich boys' trash-talking their wrestling rivals in public versus the spirited parties the brothers would throw with their opponents after their matches, revealing both sides to be fond colleagues.

Having covered several law enforcement K-9 programs for newspapers, what struck me is that the Von Erich brothers had been trained, much like those dogs, to regard their work as "play," with the promise of rewards if they played the game well enough. However, that robbed them of outlets for expressing themselves, or even just blowing off some steam, outside of wrestling.

In some ways, younger brother Mike (Stanley Simons) was the most well-rounded of the bunch, preferring to play in a band than to follow in his father's footsteps, but that left him the least prepared for what he would face when he was forced to join his older brothers in the ring.

When I was in the Navy, a few fellow sailors and I had a chance to interact briefly with the kinder, gentler Ric Flair (long story), so it was refreshing to be reminded of his harsher days as a "heel," which actor Aaron Dean Eisenberg's cameo recreates with teeth-baring relish in "The Iron Claw."

As much as this film serves as a screed against toxic masculinity, the reason even those who aren't fans of professional wrestling are likely to remain invested in its drama is because Efron's Kevin Von Erich is such an earnestly caring and protective older brother. In spite of his mistakes, he raises his own two boys well enough that they ultimately enable their dad to embrace a healthy masculinity.

Be warned, this film delves into a slightly schmaltzy afterlife fantasy sequence near its end, and wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has already cataloged a number of its historical and chronological inaccuracies, including its total omission of Chris Von Erich, the fifth of Fritz's sons to perform as a professional wrestler.

"The Iron Claw" boasts fight sequences that benefit from having pro wrestler Chavo Guerrero Jr. - the fans still miss his uncle Eddie (Viva La Raza!) - on board as a consultant.