The Iron Claw

Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich in “The Iron Claw.” House Claw LLC photo via IMDB

Even before we hear of the family curse, there's a sense that things aren't going to end well for the Von Erich brothers. When it comes to family businesses, professional wrestling wouldn't be most people's first choice. 

If they had a choice.

Zac Efron, bulked up to be almost unrecognizable from his High School Musical teen heartthrob days to play Kevin, oldest of the four real-life good ol' boys out of West Texas who came to prominence on the wrestling circuit in the 1980s.

Jeremy Allen White is brother Kerry, Harris Dickinson is David, and Stanley Simons is Mike. Along with Kevin they were destined to be known almost as much for their bad luck as for all the championship belts they would win. 

Guiding their rise was their dad Fritz (Holt McCallany), himself a former professional wrestler whose squeeze-the-forehead-til-the-brains-come-out move provided his signature in the ring, and the title for the movie. Maura Tierney is their Bible-reading mom, Doris, the long-suffering archetype, a staple in stories like this.

Under Sean Durkin's writing and direction, '80s hair styles and wardrobes along with the cars and décor of the era provide eye-catching distractions around the performances, which, as you might imagine, are pretty twangy and gritty.

“The Iron Claw” takes its place this awards season with “Nyad” and “The Boys in the Boat,” reenactments of underdog achievements in sports often overshadowed by flashier competition.

Pro-wrestling is hardly an unknown quantity in the sports world, although it's always been hard to find the line between actual competition and orchestrated show-biz. 

Kevin tries to explain the difference to Pam (a scene-stealing Lily James), who knows she's gonna marry him from the moment they meet. The tight trunks, the poufy hair, the sequinned capes and the cockfighting trash talk are as essential as physical conditioning in this line of work.

They're all reminders that one of the earliest superstars in the ring was known as Gorgeous George. More recently Dwayne Johnson did pretty well in the sport, too, before segueing into pure entertainment and becoming the biggest star in the world. 

The spectacle and artificiality can't disguise the extreme conditioning and strength needed to set foot in the ring. Growing up on the family ranch, the brothers bonded closely, perhaps because their dad was such an unforgiving SOB.

On a paranoid mission to avenge forces in the world he felt had constantly wronged him, his boys become his instrument of revenge. Having a drill sergeant for a father helped forge the unique love they had for each other, but couldn't save them from daddy's demons.

Writer-director Durkin observes rather than judges the dysfunctional dynamics and the brotherly hijinks, surrounding them with beautifully choreographed and filmed action in the ring. For all the melodrama in tights, or maybe because of it, the gladiatorial dance is amazing to behold.

As the centerpiece of everything happening on screen, Efron's performance is an impressive surprise. While he couldn't overcome the height difference between himself and the actual Kevin, he makes up for it with an utterly believable presence in the ring, and levels of emotional nuance outside it. 

With that overdeveloped physique and a different shape to his face (the result of jaw surgery after an accident), he graduates from being the magazine cover pretty boy, finding emotional heft and soul that honor his character's bedrock, redneck roots without pandering to them. He may not make the final cut in this year's best actor Oscar race, but deserves a truly honorable mention.

After all the dark places “The Iron Claw” takes us, it comes up with a final scene and tear-jerking postscript nobody could have seen coming. Not a victory, exactly, but a happy ending for a family that certainly deserves one.