A tragic true story combined with exceptional acting and astonishing cinematography makes “The Iron Claw” one of the best releases of 2023. Making its debut in theaters on Dec. 22, the biopic follows the life of the Von Erich brothers, a famous family of wrestlers in Texas during the 70s and 80s. Although at times the movie doesn’t get everything right in the Von Erich’s story, it still succeeds in making an emotional and deeply moving film.
The acting in “The Iron Claw” was impressive to say the least. Zach Efron arguably gave the best performance of his entire career playing main character Kevin Von Erich. Jeremy Allen White (Kerry Von Erich) and Harris Dickinson (David Von Erich) also did not disappoint. Not only did the actors put on a good amount of muscle mass to be more convincing as the iconic trio but they were able to make the audience connect with the brothers and sympathize with their stories.
As with most other A24 films the cinematography was incredible. They succeeded in making the audience feel as if they were in the wrestling ring with the brothers. While also succeeding in immersing the audience in the brothers lives and the emotional toll both the tragedies had on all of them. Cinematography was one of the main components that made this movie great. Without it the film would fail to be anywhere near as exciting or emotionally devastating.
Although the movie is outstanding overall it does have some pitfalls. One of them being that it left out an entire brother from the film. There were six Von Erich brothers; the movie only includes five. While this doesn’t make the movie worse, it just makes it less accurate. Also while the actors did a phenomenal job, they are not nearly the physical stature of the original Von Erich brothers, which isn’t a huge deal, but can take some time to get used to.
Overall I think everyone has something to gain from watching this movie. It’s a very sad story but it also has a very beautiful message. Even people who do not usually enjoy sports movies would probably enjoy The Iron Claw because it is so much more than the average sports movie many were expecting.
