'The Iron Claw' movie review: This biopic on wrestlers Von Erich brothers is grim, gritty, and galvanizing

Cast: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Stanley Simons

Director: Sean Durkin

Language: English

Every true story is inspiring and incredible, and so is The Iron Claw. What is it about? I googled about it and this is what it informed me- It’s the story of the Von Erich brothers as they make history in the highly competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.

Professional wrestling in films is a tricky territory as the sport needs to be filmed with as much chaos and charisma as it happens in real. The action behind the camera needs to be in sync with the violent choreography in the ring between wrestlers. Every movement they make has to be edited and shot with precision. Unless you feel you’re a part of the action, the effort feels in vain. The Iron Claw scores here and so do the performances that are both raw and raunchy. This is a film that’s about an overbearing father too, who sees his sons’ success as his own. This is Anil Sharma’s Apne with far superior aesthetics and wrenching emotions. So far, we have seen the versions of wrestling in WWF that later became WWE. We witnessed scorching (and scripted) rivalries, ugly bloodbaths, profuse profanity, and at times, titillating divas. The Iron Claw has no room (or ring) for all such gimmicks. This is a fierce and pulsating biopic that cannot afford to fall into the abyss of such trappings to make it more commercially viable.

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Biopics don’t have to inspire you all the time to take up the profession of the central character. If you’re able to rise from your seats and rouse, that would suffice. There’s more to the title than what meets the eye. It’s not just the claw that’s made of iron, the spine is too. The brothers are so driven by the greed to succeed and the gleam of their father’s dream, they put their bodies and emotions on the line everytime they step into the ring. It’s hard to pinpoint one performance that stands out since every character contributes to the grit of this ferocious story. If not for anything else, watch The Iron Claw to know there were many other names in the wrestling ring apart from the names imbedded in our collective consciousness. And that’s the bottom line, but Stone Cold didn’t say so.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

The Iron Claw is streaming on Lionsgate Play