Mark Kermode reviews The Iron Claw - Kermode and Mayo's Take

what else is out tell us something the iron claw new movie by Shawn Durkin who made Martha Marcy Mayar Ling which I loved and the nest also directing credits on the Alice Birch update of dead ringers on Prime inspired by the true story of the von Eric family who became American wrestling superstars whole molani is Fritz Von Eric domineering former wrestler now raising his sons to follow in the family business with ominous consequences the ironclaw is his signature move he has passed this down to his son it's a good term also not just for the wrestling move but for the grip he and the profession have over the family who are trapped within the ironclaw of his legacy Zack Efron is Kevin who is lined up to become a champion Jeremy Ellen White is Kerry whose Olympic dreams are dashed when the US pulls out of the Moscow Olympics 1980 so he has to come back into the fold Harris Dickson is David um not as bulky as his brothers but still a contender stany Simons is Mike who prefers playing music in his band but who is nonetheless pulled drawn Godfather like into the fold Kevin thinks his dad is too harsh on Mike but their mom Doris played by Mor and he says just sort it out between yourselves there is talk of a family curse another brother died when he was young Kevin thinks that somehow Doom surrounds them when he hooks up with Pam played by Lily James he tells her about the von Eric curse that came to his father when his father changed his name from akison to von Eric the name comes at a price yes it makes them famous but it comes with a price he's also wedded to the idea that first and foremost his dedication is to his family and when she asks him what he dreams of he says just that here's a clip I want to be with my family you know be with my brothers that's sweet what do you like to do with your brothers anything I don't know just being together we can do anything anything what about you well I want to be a vet I want kids I want my own practice I want a man who's okay with that cool so would you be okay with that oh damn right I would we could be one of those modern super couples we could have our own ranch everyone could come live with us all my brothers their families okay did you know anything about the story of the von Eric family no no cuz what I know about wrestling nothing so the first thing I did was I looked at the Wiki page in which it says the story of the von Eric family has been presented as a cautionary tale about parental influence sibling rivalry and the various dangers of the professional wrestling business what I know about wrestling is what I've seen in movies so Mickey Ro in the wrestler is that kind of wounded bear being battered around the circuit dragged from ring to ring more recently gagas beral who was brilliant in cassandro in which he plays an exotico uh who became a hero on the Luchador circus this is somewhere between the wrestler and cassandro with Fox catcher being the sort of third part of the sort of triangulation that it's you know there's stuff there is there is tragedy out there that you you know you which I didn't know about beforehand as I said this is quite a famous story I didn't know about it so on the one hand the film is all about the pain of the World of Wrestling you know for all its fakery for all its theater for all its characters you get thrown you get bashed you get hurt I mean those things are real but it's also a film about family and masculinity in which the beatings in the ring are pretty much nothing compared with the beatings that are dished out at the dinner table by the overbearing patriarch father who effectively rules the family with an iron Rod it turns out in fact that as the various unfolding tragedies unfold the real story is actually has a whole other character who also involved tragedy the the director said it was was one more tragedy that the film couldn't withstand when a director says real events were so you know dark that we actually backed off from them you know that what you're dealing with is a story that is full with as I said at the very beginning this sense of curse um there are there's lots of use of pop songs uh Don't Fear the Reaper Tom Sawyer there's also a great score by Richard Reed Perry which reminded me occasionally of Neil y Neil Young's work on Jim James's dead man which is a score that I really really like the thing about it is that for a film that's essentially about really big bulked up guys and I mean they are when you first see Zack Efron it's almost unrecognizably Hench to use the word that right apparently but it's also it's very tender and it's very moving and watching it I started thinking this is this is almost the movie that pain and gain would be if it had been made by a man with a soul rather than a void uh Durkins work has always been about people it's about characters that you come to know and get involved with and for all the the the bulk and the heft and the wrestling which looks really convincingly real um it's about the inner turmoil it's about loneliness and it also has a has a thread of you know of redemption which is kind of runs at the heart of the story and it does that thing that great drama does that takes a subject that you're and I say that this was true of both both the wrestler and sandre that you you you become invested in the characters even though I have absolutely no interest in wrestling at all and I thought it was yeah oddly moving and oddly tender for a film that is in great part about very big BLS smashing other very big BLS onto a very hard floor yeah good cast when you great c yeah and a great director and a and a and a very AR but you know it said um you know cautionary tal true life story

Channel: Kermode and Mayo's Take

Views: 79,818

Keywords: Mark Kermode, Simon Mayo, Kermode and Mayo's Take, Film Review, TV Review

Id: wEm7gIJNoEU

Length: 6min 9sec (369 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 09 2024