Sean Durkin’s The Nest was one of my very favourite films of the year of its release and so I was awaiting Durkin’s next directorial effort with great anticipation, and so when the news came of his next project being a biopic of the tragic lives of the wrestling Von Erich family, starring many of the great young stars of this generation and giving Zac Efron a major leading dramatic role – it peaked my interest greatly and I also felt that in regards to the tragedy of the piece, Durkin’s slow burn and often tender portrayals of pain would be absolutely perfect and I was certainly right, with The Iron Claw being one of my favourite films of this year. Durkin certainly hits again.
The Iron Claw is not only an incredibly heavy piece of material, but it is also decade spanning, a multi faceted ensemble piece and one that rides for the most part an incredibly fine line between deep rooted tragedy and familial love and joy, aswell as a sports drama following the ups and downs of a series of careers. Durkin’s writing and directing however keep the whole thing in a very tight balance and a quick pace that leads the film to have a mounting slow burn quality that never once sacrifices time or patience to explore the human side of things better or for that matter explore the actual wrestling side of things. Durkin’s handle on tone is perhaps shown best in two scenes near the very end of the film that to be frank in other hands could very well have been the most saccharin things one could ever see, but in Durkin’s hands and the hands of this incredible cast, they are two of the most emotional and effecting moments of the year. This paired with All of us Strangers actually makes for a sterling double bill of films of incredibly outward emotionality and in this case incredibly interior imploding emotionality, both from directors who understand the pain and pathos that presenting such things with delicateness and craft can create.
Durkin is also
dealing with an ensemble of truly incredible actors whom not one falls short
in both the very demanding emotional aspects nor for that matter the physical,
this might be the most realistic depictions of wrestling we’ve seen on screen ever
most likely. Zac Efron as our lead is finally given a role created for him, for
I haven’t seen an actor offer such a physical transformation and such a sublime
interior performance like this in a sports film since the likes of Raging Bull,
and I say that sincerely without hyperbole. And beyond him with Harris Dickinson,
Jeremy Allen White and Stanley Simons make up the rest of the Von Erich
brothers and each one is similarly excellent and shine in different varietals
to truly make the impact of the ensemble all the more powerful and as each
tragedy takes its turn all the more saddening. Every single actor pulls their
weight in this incredibly demanding film that never releases the pressure valve
on its actors. This is the most likable I’ve found Lily James in her entire career
beyond Cinderella even. Maura Tierney and Holt McCallany however are the
deepest reservoir of complexity that the film offers, in every scene offering a
painful bevy of complications and generational ignorance’s that range from the
institutional to the deeply terrible in nature. Both actors manage to bring incredible
humanity to these roles making both the final stellar chord in this films
overall astounding suite.
A deeply tragic and empathetic 9/10 that manages to balance incredible pain with incredible pathos and manages to make the most human and extreme of tragedies never once come off as melodramatic or perhaps even over the top. Durkin’s handle on the film’s tone is the masterstroke here and his writing and directing is on top form as it was for me previously with The Nest. Efron and the rest of the ensemble, in particular McAllaney, offer some truly stellar performances of both incredible interiority and physicality. It’s a truly epic tale of tragedy, but one that in Durkin’s hands manages to succeed and never stray into possible paths of trouble.
P.S. After the absolute over saturation of the song in recent years and in popular culture at large, do you understand how hard it is to pull of a needle drop of Don’t Fear the Reaper without any element of cringe being induced? Well Durkin, pulled it off, and perhaps it’s the era, perhaps it’s the general vibe, but it landed with panache, like the rest of the great selection needle drops in the film.
- - Thomas Carruthers
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