Anyone even remotely familar with the world of wrestling knows that it’s a life that can cause way more damage than a stiff clothesline or a particularly vicious submission hold, and that beyond the bright lights and over hyped promos, tragedy lurks barely and arm bar or dropkick’s distance away.
Possibly no other wrestling clan in existence discovered this the hard way more than the legendary Von Erich family, a quintet of studs who had already suffered a major loss when the oldest and sixth brother, Jack Jr., had died as a child. Shepherded into wrestling by their demanding father, Fritz, a man who never felt he got his due when he wrestled, the brothers not only had to wrestle with the pressure of the legacy their patriarch heaped upon them; but they also had to contend with a family superstition ominously known as the Von Erich curse. Needless to say, tragedy ensued.
While trying to to build an in-family wrestling dynasty like no other, the punishing and driven Fritz Von Erich has big things planned for his sons. While the eldest, Kevin, has sculpted himself a physique of the gods and is primed to get a shot at the WCCW world title currently being held by Harley Race, next brother in line, David, is noticably far more charismatic on the mic and is snapping at his heels. Elsewhere, third brother, Kerry, is also an accomplished athlete and is gearing up to take part in the 1980 summer Olympics, but when the USA pulls out of the games that year due to a boycott, he’s soon added to Fritz’s dream to finally bring the world title into his family where he feels it belongs. The final Von Erich is the youngest, Mike, who has sizable musical talent and is part of a band, but if it wasn’t sports based, then Fritz isn’t interested.
Taking the mantle of protective older brother, Kevin worries that their father is pushing them all too hard, and the hold he has on them us so absolute, they all take the mounting pressure with a terse “yes, sir” – even when he pits them against one another. A prime example of this is when Kevin’s bud to snag a title shot against Race doesn’t go the way it’s planned and as a result, David jumps the line and is subsequently groomed to be the next Von Erich to go for the title, but after he’s put on a punishing schedule that will see him feud with flamboyant new world champion Ric Flair before heading off to wrestle in Japan, the strain finally takes its toll.
While Kevin find some sort of solace with new girlfriend Pam, whom he soon marries and starts a family of his own, the relentless procession of family tragedies that unmercifully rock the Von Erichs starts to get in his head. Is there a Von Erich curse, and if so how can it be ended?
When sitting through The Iron Claw (named after the skull squeezing submission hold the family liked to use), there’s a temptation to imagine the filmmakers sitting through a screening of Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler and simply declaring that it’s just not depressing enough, as director Sean Durkin hides through the ocean of pain that afflicted the family for years. In fact, grappling scholars may spot that the movie is actually missing a whole, entire brother in the shape of actual youngest, Chris Von Erich who tragically shot himself in 1991 – but the reason he’s been left strangely absent is that it would have made the movie just too damn harrowing.
The filmmakers do have a point as, aside from the movie’s emotional high spots of in-ring action, the movie is an examination of toxic parenting that sees the effects that continued pressure can have on a group of perfectionists that just simply want to make their dad happy. While only too happy to push his sons beyond breaking point, when it comes to the ramifications of his actions, Holt McCalleny’s single-minded Fritz is content to hand all that actual caring stuff to the horribly overloaded Kevin, a stoic, quiet type who seems just as ill equipped to handle his dangerously bottled up emotions as his equally chiseled brothers.
Recalling the stark tension of 2014s Foxcatcher as well as The Wrestler (obviously), the movie examines the mental and psychological toll that the “curse” took on this revered family unit that sees each brother handle it differently before fate randomly decided to smite them each down. An absurdly buff Zac Effron may have a body that looks cast out of sheer bronze, but his quiet and measured performance speaks volumes as his gaggle of beloved brother begin to shrink and his “irrational” fear of the curse grows to the point where he’s barely a three count away from a full nervous breakdown. Elsewhere we find Harris Dickinson’s David far more put together emotionally while Jeremy Allen White (no stranger to pressure cooker situations – usually involving an actual pressure cooker – thanks to the superlative The Bear ) is the more athletically driven Kerry who still tries to wrestle despite a crash that takes one of his limbs. However, possibly the most tragic is Stanley Simmons’ Mike, who isn’t actually particularly interested in the sport of pro-wrestling at all, but who also is still drawn into the world thanks to his father who may have been the actual Von Erich curse after all.
However, while the performances are great and the drama is appropriately gut wrenching, director Sean Durkin struggles slightly marrying the grit of the incredible misfortune and the crazy world of 80s professional wrestling. While he perfectly describes how a world title works to newbies in a sport that’s famously “predetermined” (it’s helpfully likened to a promotion in a job), the in-ring stuff is so immersive, it would gave been nice to get a bit more of it to balance out the depression more – for example; we skip past Kerry’s match with Ric Flair entirely to him having already won the title, which proves to be an odd choice for such a high point. Similarly, when some of the deaths occur, some are weirdly delivered in a matter of fact way that I assume is supposed to make it all the more stunning, but in actuality ends up feeling a bit gappy.
While The Wrestler is admittedly the superior film, the sheer weight of The Iron Claw’s performances – plus the metric ton of real-life misery – proves to help the film push past some slight disjointedness to give us yet another glimpse of the life of a wrestler that proves to be as crushing as the titular submission hold. Although you may want to sling on Fighting With My Family afterwards to even you out.
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