If you grew up with wrestling in the 1980s, you knew the Von Erich family and the four brothers who embodied wrestling, especially in the South. You probably also knew about their family curse. Every wrestling fan remembers Kerry Von Erich taking the World Title away from Rick Flair at Texas stadium just as much as Hulk Hogan winning WrestleMania 3 over Andre the Giant, but what many don’t know is the story behind all the tragedies behind wrestling’s greatest family. The Iron Claw is the story behind the scenes with everything that happened to this family beyond the wrestling ring. Taking its name from the famous wrestling move by the patriarch of the family, Fritz Von Erich, The Iron Claw move became synonymous with 80s wrestling. If the story says anything is that the bigger the fame, the greater the tragedy and there was no other family that experienced more tragedy outside of the ring. Kevin Von Erich is the only surviving brother and this movie is really seen through his eyes. This is a heartfelt story about a family who lost more than they ever really gained if you want to get right down to it but beyond all the wrestling in the movie are strong performances and a great story… as we all know with wrestling, sometimes the better stories are the ones told in the ring, but the true stories are the ones that are more heartfelt and tragic.

I won’t say that the film is perfect, there’s a lot that they don’t tell you in a 2-hour movie that a documentary can or even a limited series on a streaming channel, but that doesn’t matter because you get a great dramatization of what it was like to be in Von Erich family and how wrestling embodied the family’s identity. It’s hard not to when you have four brothers who go into the profession. All the performances are great, this is for the most part Zac Efron’s movie who plays Kevin.

There’s a reason he’s being considered for a best actor award,  not only did he dedicate himself to the physicality of Kevin Von Erich, but the stunt work that it takes to make a great wrestling movie. In some ways, he channeled Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler which I still believe is Mickey Rourke’s best performance since the ’80s. But I also got to hand it to Holt McCallany who plays Fritz. It’s hard to look at Fritz Von Erich as a good guy, the way that he pushed his family into wrestling. He was a complicated figure who had a dream and built-up wrestling in Texas and made it national. Even average wrestling fans remember what it was like at the Sportatorium in Dallas. I’m not judging the character himself, but Holt’s performance was great. Then again, he’s no stranger to Great performances from shows like Mindhunter or the boxing series he did on FX about 10 years ago called Lights Out. The performances are what drive this movie and make it worth watching. But it also has some of the best wrestling stunt work, it makes you feel like you’re inside the ring with everybody. And, one of the strongest aspects of the movie is its attention to detail from costumes to the personification of wrestlers in the eighties like Rick Flair.

I loved the story. There was a lot that I didn’t know and had forgotten, and I think the film captures the highlights including the tragic deaths of three of the brothers, especially Kerry’s suicide, but there’s so much more to the story of the Von Erich family in wrestling that I feel like a 2-hour movie just couldn’t tell. We essentially get highlights and that’s fine as long as the pacing is good and there’s a connection to the characters. There certainly was. I wish that we had gotten to see more of Harris Dickerson who played David. He was the first brother to die tragically while he was on tour in Japan. But it doesn’t take away from his strong performance in the movie. My biggest complaint about the film is that there is so much more to the story that a limited series would have been better. But the film does a great job of showing everything from Kevin’s perspective and the tragedy that he had to live with being the only brother who survived. The man essentially left the public eye for over 20 years until this project brought him back. Is the movie worth seeing in the theater? Absolutely! especially if you’re from Texas. I’m very glad that I got to be at the world premiere in November and watch it at the Texas Theater. However, it feels a bit of a short story compared to the real story of the Von Erich family. But if the film does one thing right, it graciously deals with the tragic death of three of the brothers with a certain reverence that makes it easy to connect to all the characters. The Iron Claw is one of the best wrestling movies ever made and we’ll leave you wanting to know more about the Von Erich family. While we will not get a sequel to this movie, maybe a good docuseries with interviews from the cast would suffice. My verdict is, yes go see The Iron Claw especially if you’re a wrestling fan!