"The Iron Claw"

I find The Iron Claw to be "decent/pretty good," meaning slightly above-average—and I do mean slightly. A pseudo-epic saga of professional wrestling's famous Von Erich family, the movie offers neither realism nor stylization, either visually or tonally. Both in terms of the acting and the direction, one senses the gears shifting and the "process" invisibly at play—which is not the effect that a film ever wants to create. Indeed, the enterprise feels a tad too "mediated," as if it is not quite happening organically. Impressive stylization could have compensated, but that factor is largely lacking, too. Instead, the movie's effect is synthetic—replicated rather than authentic. The film is well-cast, yet aside from Maura Tierney as the reserved, aloof matriarch and Jeremy Allen White as one of the brothers/wrestlers, the performances leave something to be desired, which is an indictment of director Sean Durkin (also the movie's writer). In the lead role as the oldest (sort of) brother, Zac Efron is adequate and flirts with quiet poignancy, yet in the end, his physique is more impressive than the rest of his (somewhat mechanical) performance. (Of course, Efron deserves credit for building his physique to such an extent.) Overall, one might draw an analogy to Ford v Ferrari from four years ago, a middling, milquetoast movie—both emotionally and visually—that miraculously managed to score five Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. (Promotional campaigns, I suppose, can indeed count for so much.) And I drew that analogy before noticing that The Iron Claw has won two National Board of Review awards, one for "Best Ensemble" and one for "Top Films," the equivalent of a Best Picture nomination from the Academy.

On the other hand, the material in The Iron Claw is quite strong: a tragic, patriarchal, real-life American Dream that mixes genuine darkness and disaffection with bittersweet, belatedly redemptive qualities. And to its credit, the film creates a sense of quietude rather than spelling out its themes. Occasionally, director Durkin offers a memorable shot: Efron's character emerging into a dark room from deep inside the frame, barely backlit by the bluish light emanating from just outside the door and its small window; a heavenly-type long shot with the four brothers and their father frolicking in a golden field, perhaps playing backyard football as they had in the past, suggesting what could have been; a still medium-range shot that reveals the legacy of an accident; a tight shot where Efron's character, while training in the ring, continually bounces from one side of the ropes to the other, everything blurry except for the ropes in the foreground, suggesting his sense of psychological mania and how it dovetails with his athletic endeavor. And some of the late scenes stand out, especially two where Durkin uses minimal staging and dialogue to foster deep resonance. In one, Tierney's character has resumed her painting—a talent from her past—and tells her stunned, questioning husband that she has not made dinner, that she wasn't hungry. The exchange, and the resulting silence, prove powerful and haunting, telling a lot with a little. The other, the movie's final scene and coda, is both tender and thematically revealing, ultimately lifting The Iron Claw just above its essential mediocrity. 

The film is one of dangerous ambition, masculine archetypes and their changing definitions within the milieu of Americana, and the effects of wrestling on the body, psyche, and soul. And again, the picture presents these matters without exposition. Rather as in Ford v Ferrari, the material is stronger than the movie, but that material is better in The Iron Claw—richer, more ironic, more complex—and this film makes a little more of its material. At its best, it (sort of) could have been Giant (George Stevens, 1956) transferred to the tawdry realm of modern wrestling. The Iron Claw, conversely, is a far more limited, far more routine venture, but the subject matter still resonates, and in its best shots and scenes, the movie makes an impact. 

Some people might agree with me, others with the National Board of Review. But along with untapped potential, there is something to this intriguing mixed bag of a motion picture.