The Iron Claw

Warning: This conversation will include a number of terms taken from the once highly guarded and secret language of professional wrestling known as "kayfabe."

James Rosario: As a big-time old-school wrestling fan, I walked into Sean Durkin's The Iron Claw with a sizable grasp on the real-life tragedies that befell the Von Erich family throughout the '80s and early '90s, but I have to admit I had more than a few reservations about how their story would transfer to the big screen. Biopics are a tough sell for me, especially when the subjects are people I have previous knowledge of and more than a passing interest in, but I think Durkin pulled off a hell of a movie.

As a wrestling mark, how did you handle your foray into the inner workings of this strange and secretive business?

Edwin Arnaudin: Well, I have some prior experience with this world, having regularly watched WWF on Saturday mornings as a kid, seen Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, and written about the Asheville-based Urban Combat Wrestling. But I knew nothing about the Von Erich saga, so surprises galore awaited.

I was so engrossed in this tragic story that I forgot who was behind the camera — an unexpected blessing since I found Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene fairly dull and The Nest well-made and acted but frustratingly pointless. But I felt attached to the characters and milieu of The Iron Claw within the opening 10 minutes and, heavy though it all often is, didn't want to leave them.

I'm happy to answer any "what did the mark think of this?" questions but I'm curious what foremost impressed you here.

James: What struck me right off the bat was the opening scene juxtaposition between the violence of what we witness in the ring — and make no mistake, folks: up until the mid-'80s, wrestling matches were worked extremely stiff and showed a lot of color, despite their predetermined finishes and the down-to-earth reality of family life outside of it. Durkin and cinematographer Mátyás Erdély's use of black and white gives this imagery a gritty, almost newsreel look to it (think the Raging Bull fight scenes) that complements both aspects of the film's first few minutes.

I am fascinated by old wrestling matches from the '50s and '60s (along with matches from the '70s, ’80s, and ’90s) and equally fascinated by those working them. By offering this simple glimpse into a side of the business not often considered by non-fans, Durkin humanizes a group of people who've spent their careers building themselves up as monsters.

I also loved that not only did Chavo Guerrero Jr. (a member of another famous wrestling family with tragedy in its past) play The Sheik, one of wrestling's most notorious brawlers, but that he also served as the film's main wrestling consultant. The production could not have been in better hands with Chavo overseeing things.

Did you have any trouble getting into the onscreen action, or were the matches too "cinematic" to be taken seriously as traditional wrestling?

Edwin: It all felt pretty damn gritty and authentic to me. In addition to Durkin's blunt tone — finally an asset in one of his films — the astonishing physical transformation by Zac Efron into Kevin Von Erich serves as a tentpole of realism for me. Having that one hulking presence elevates the believability of those around him and it's a career-best performance from one of our most underrated actors.

Durkin and Erdély shoot the battles with an intimacy as well as a distance that together put viewers inside the ring and in the audience within seemingly each showdown. But they take a similar approach to the unscripted human drama in the locker rooms and at the Von Erich homestead. I was fascinated by that family's dynamic — one of tough love that, in the case of patriarch Fritz (a subtly menacing Holt McCallany), pushes the definition of the word with the intense pressure he places on his sons to succeed.

Not knowing this side of the Von Erich story either, how does its onscreen depiction line up with what you know of the real events?

James: First, not only is this a career-best performance from Efron, but I think it's one of the best performances of the year across the board. Throughout his career, Efron has been stuck bearing the weight of his Disney Channel High School Musical days, but the guy can act, and I think it's high time people give him the chance he deserves. The role of Kevin Von Erich allows him to run the gamut of emotional and physical character acting, and he does not disappoint. It's a tough story and a tough role, and Efron kills it.

As for the authenticity of the story, I was honestly worried my prior knowledge of the true events would somewhow tarnish my enjoyment of the film, but if anything, I think they enhanced it. Sure, there are some dramatic liberties taken, but Durkin still tells a hell of a tragic tale, despite any discrepencies I could nit-pick. In fact, where most directors would embellish a story like this for the most dramatic effect, Durkin actually downplays some of them. For example, the Mike character (Stanley Simons) is actually a composit of the real life Mike and another brother named Chris, who also died by suicide. It may be hard to believe, but the real story is actually even more tragic than what's depicted in the film. 

Durkin also includes no shortage of easter eggs for us wrestling nerds, such as a quick shot of Gino Hernandez (Ryan Nemeth) doing cocaine (the real Hernandez's cocaine-related death in 1986 is shrouded in conspiracy, with some believing it was an overdose, while others maintain it was murder), the mention of NWA board member and former president Sam Muchnick, Jerry Jarret's purchase of WCCW (which he then merged with his own CWA out of Memphis to form the USWA), as well as no shortage of depictions of legendary wrestlers and tag teams like Ric Flair, Harley Race, Bruiser Brody, and the Fabulous Freebirds. 

If your biggest gripe about a film is that it doesn't include a recreation of the time Michael Hayes slammed the steel cage door on Ric Flair's head during a match with Kerry Von Erich on Christmas night, 1982, I'd say your film is doing pretty good. (For those interested, the WWE network on Peacock has hundreds of hours of old WCCW shows available to stream.)

For me, these small details about the inner-workings of the industry elevate The Iron Claw well past the sum of its parts. Personally, I'm endlessly fascinated with how the wrestling business worked before Vince McMahon and the WWF's rise to power in the mid-'80s, specifically the long-dead territory system and how the champions were selected. Did any of the more guarded or dated aspects of how things worked back then give you any pause about the story? Or was the story itself enough to compensate for some of the more esoteric references?

Edwin: Honestly, nothing felt overly specialized. The names and details don't bog down the story, but instead color in the time and place that much more. As you put it, they're really just easter eggs, though having a famous name like Ric Flair in there goes a long way.

I was actually surprised by how much time is spent outside of the ring, focused on the domestic issues plaguing the Von Erichs. Fascinating as it is to witness the rise and fall of fellow brothers David (Harris Dickinson, Triangle of Sadness) and Kerry (Jeremy Allen White, The Bear), the impact of their professional doings on the family's home life at large is just as compelling. While this is improbably (albeit apparently fated) a family entirely composed of sons, Maura Tierney does some impressive emotional heavy lifting as matriarch Doris. And while Lily James initially comes off somewhat awkward as Kevin's love interest Pam, her tough love (of the healthy variety) proves a dramatically rich foil to her man's fears and grief.

Everyone is at the top of their game and combine for some truly great ensemble work. In such a strong film year, I fear it will be forgotten awards-wise. But among those of us for whom this tragic, hardscrabble tale resonates, I suspect it'll rank high on year-end Best Of lists. I currently have it hovering around my Top 10 and give it a skull-cracking A-minus.

James: As a male-dominated business, the women behind the larger-than-life personas rarely get their due. Tierney and James are terrific as the long-suffering spouses and mothers of obsessed and damaged men, with Tierney especially delivering a powerhouse performance. Her toxic internalization of what a successful and happy family is supposed to look like is damn near heartbreaking, as she continually and needlessly buries son after son.

I hate to say it, but I was never much of a fan of the real Von Erich's in-ring work (Freebirds all the way, baby!), but this fact does nothing to dimish the impact of what befell the family. The meat of the story happens outside of the squared circle, and again, as crazy as that story is, Durkin actually downplays and understates much of it. Drug use, depression, nepotism, and mental abuse from their father are all there on screen, but can you imagine how a lifetime of that can affect someone? We only saw it for just over two hours; those kids had to live with it their entire lives.

The real Kevin Von Erich has told his family's story a number of times in articles and documentaries, but, despite The Iron Claw being a dramatization of his life's major events, it still feels like the most real version we fans have been given to date. It gets an easy A-minus from me and is a definite Top 10 finisher for the year. And that, my friends, is a shoot.

Grade: A-minus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, the Fine Arts Theatre, Grail Moviehouse, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photos: A24)