The Iron Claw is a Tragically Complex Love Story
And a reminder that even though things may seem black and white, the truth is always a little gray.
It’s societally acceptable to do things out of character for someone you love. It may not always be smart, and we may push ourselves to cross limits, eliminate boundaries, and pursue nonsensical outcomes, only to see the tragedy of our pursuit once it’s too late. When dreams have broken, hearts shattered, and emotions gone frail, we look up, take stock of the tumult of our heartache, and, to the best of our ability, pick up the pieces of a complex glass puzzle shattered into a million pieces. That’s what I left The Iron Claw with.
For starters, The Iron Claw is undoubtedly one of the best films released in 2023, and its omission from a Best Picture nomination is a mid-tier Oscar robbery. It’s an emotional rollercoaster steeped in old-school Texas tradition and an unrelenting pursuit of the dreams of an entire family. It’s a love story with love stories within it, sure, but the romance is backseat to the family. The ones that always stood with you always come first, and there are no apologies for that. Nothing is fair in love or war, but if the love fails, I got my family, got my brothers, and we’ll go to war together any day of the week.
Even within that backdrop, family is complicated. Love is rich and nuanced but can also be depleting. The Von Erich’s onscreen portrayal conveys this richness with an emotional depth that has moments of brevity but mostly conveys the rollercoaster of life in a deeply digestible manner.
The film stars the comically underrated Zach Efron as Kevin Von Erich. (Efron is underrated largely because he has a penchant for taking roles beneath his talent level. Fortunately, The Iron Claw does not fall into that territory.) He’s matched alongside the Von Erich patriarch Jack, played by Holt McCallany. On the surface, McCallany comes off as a guy who plays himself in every role, but he’s got enough juice in the bag to dispel that criticism. And, even if we were to rubberstamp such an accusation, this is the role of a lifetime for him. Jack Von Erich is cold, calculated, and cunning, pushing his sons to the absolute limit to accomplish his dreams vicariously through them. It’s cringeworthy with incredibly tragic consequences, and McCallany wades through life with the defiance and temperament of your stereotypical 1980s farm dad.
Jeremy Allen White is his usual self - steady, captivating, in tune - adding ticks and characteristics that bring every portion of his character to life. Harris Dickinson adds to his impressive early career resume as David Von Erich. Lily James and Maura Tierney contribute exceptionally to the psychological tone floating underneath every scene of the film, as each woman’s character approaches the carnage that piles up on the road to success with diametrically opposing manners.
The Iron Claw is a love story about men, about the challenges confronted, and about the residual impact of what gets left behind as the world looks to leave us in the dust. After the film ended, I sat with the lights off for about 10 minutes. I let the credits roll and took a few notes in my journal. Sometimes, I ask myself what is worth sacrificing, trying to pin down what can wait, what can’t, or what must go so that I may live my best life and turn some of these dreams into reality.
What makes The Iron Claw an incredible film isn’t just the emoting—a lot of films do that. In the wake of tragedy, we sometimes rush to assume that tragic events automatically make the pursuit that leads to loss not worth it. I don’t see it that way, and subtly, I don’t think The Iron Claw does either.
The moments of triumph are euphoric and captivating. They’re memories and tokens that last for a lifetime, regardless of how long that life is. If you live to 100 and never accomplish your dreams, is the numerical milestone worth its weight in regret?
Existential inquiries abound in The Iron Claw, which makes it gel so well. Sure, there’s heartache, loss, and despair, but there’s a whole lot of success, too. In the end, society likes to make us believe that any loss along the way outweighs the wins, but in truth, is that always the case? We get moments of euphoria in this cold world, and they are fleeting. And maybe, just maybe, if you’ve got an opportunity to be one of the best at what you do, that’s worth what you may lose along the way.
I don’t know the answer, and true to a great piece of art, The Iron Claw doesn’t pretend to know either.
That’s the point. You get to be the judge.
At this column’s publication, The Iron Claw is streaming on Max.
Photo retrieved from: https://www.gq.com/story/the-iron-claw-director-sean-durkin-on-masculinity-the-tragedy-of-the-von-erichs-and-finding-the-facts-behind-wrestling-world-nonsense