The Iron Claw

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

I had absolutely zero interest in this movie and Beans had to drag me to the theatre. I think wrestling is the stupidest "sport" ever, and all the promo with a goofy looking Zach Efron was a huge turn off. Well, I'm glad I went! Because this movie is incredible from beginning to end and Zach Efron made a believer out of me!

I've heard this movie called Little Women for men, and yeah, that's exactly true. It's about a dad who wasn't able to reach a ton of success as a professional wrestler, and so he put a ton of pressure on his 4 sons to achieve the goals he never could (it's a true story, with 2 more sons mostly omitted). The sons are super loyal to him and push the limits as they deal with personal issues, strife, grief and more. It's kinda a sports movie, but mostly a very intense family drama. I think one need not be a sports fan to enjoy this (I sure am not a wrestling fan).

But yeah, this movie ranges from funny to inspiring to sad to moving. I laughed, I cried. It had it all. It mostly revolves around this amazing performance by Efron as this understated, almost shy oldest brother, trying to make it in an industry that rewards brashness and boisterousness, while also navigating the responsibility of being the oldest. Man, really terrific performance. It was a classic "I wasn't really familiar with your game" moment since I hadn't seen Efron in anything for years. He's super talented.

The other highlight for me were the performances by Lily James as Efron's wife, and Holt McCallany as the strict, domineering father. He gets that toxic southern man so well.

So yeah, terrific movie. It petered out a little for me at the end, keeping it just as shy of a ten, because there were definitely moments I considered that perfect score. But I totally recommend, just know that it's very sad and some moments are unthinkably bleak.