359: The Iron Claw

[00:00:00] Hey everybody, please make sure to go ahead and rate, review, and subscribe. Thanks.

[00:00:05] 67. Let's get to the Iron Claw which came out in late 2023. It's written and direct

[00:00:14] by Sean Durkin, Stara Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Mara Tierney, Harris Dickinson, Holt

[00:00:22] McColony, Grady Wilson, and a few others. The Snaps is the true story of the inseparable Von

[00:00:30] Erich brothers who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling

[00:00:34] in the early 1980s.

[00:00:37] So I heard about this one when it came out. I was intrigued. I love Zac Efron, I love

[00:00:42] A24, and I heard really good things about it. And I love true story films too. So

[00:00:49] really was very excited to see this one, but I heard it was very heavy. So I had to

[00:00:53] find the right time to watch it where I was really in the mood. And I knew nothing about

[00:00:58] this story, about this family had never heard of them before this film. So it was all new

[00:01:03] to me and I encourage you, if you don't know the timeline, I guess of the movie of

[00:01:08] the story, I would go in blind. It makes certain things much more shocking and powerful.

[00:01:13] So if you don't know the story, don't read up on it before you watch it. Don't

[00:01:17] even watch a trailer. Just watch it blind. And overall, I think it was excellent. I don't

[00:01:22] think it would have been in my top 10 at this point now having watched basically all of

[00:01:27] the big 2023 movies, but would have been at least an honorable mention, I think.

[00:01:32] Zac Efron first and foremost is amazing. Like he, it's not any shock or surprise

[00:01:39] at this point, but he really has turned into a really fascinating, compelling, versatile

[00:01:46] actor. And I really watch whatever he does now. And this is probably one of his best, if

[00:01:51] not his all time best performance to date. The story itself, like it's so heavy. As I

[00:01:59] said, it really gives you this heartbreaking timeline of these brothers who were as the

[00:02:06] synopsis says inseparable, they were all helping each other grow and like, Hey, you

[00:02:10] want to do music? Oh, you want to do wrestling here? We'll be there for your

[00:02:13] concert. We'll be there for your match, you know, whatever it might be. And they were

[00:02:17] always together helping each other improve in whatever way. And I think that is

[00:02:24] something that I haven't really seen much in movies, either a true story or

[00:02:27] fictional story. I think that is really nice to see on film and that was really

[00:02:31] grabbing and by far one of the most compelling parts of the movie for

[00:02:36] sure. But the timeline where things start to happen, I won't spoil it too

[00:02:42] much, but it really starts to avalanche snowball, you know, and it really is

[00:02:48] heartbreaking, especially considering that I've heard the story in real life is

[00:02:53] even more tragic, which is crazy to think about. But this family was really

[00:02:58] put pun intended here put through the ringer of having to overcome a lot

[00:03:03] of different issues and Zach Efron's character, especially, staring he was

[00:03:08] one kind of through line, I guess you can say. But it's really well directed.

[00:03:14] It is a very good commentary on toxic masculinity where the father who was

[00:03:20] this previously accomplished wrestler, he basically said, All right, we're all

[00:03:25] going to be wrestlers. You need to win like we need to become the world

[00:03:29] champions. Nothing else matters, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then

[00:03:34] all the brothers in one way or the other were thinking, Oh no, I need

[00:03:37] to be at the front. And if I'm not the winner, if I'm not being

[00:03:42] competitive, then I'm like a loser, essentially. And it really does get

[00:03:45] into that idea of, you know, men don't cry, men don't wind, they don't do

[00:03:50] this or that and the other and Zach Efron's character really struggling

[00:03:53] with sometimes being left out, also starting a family and his conflicts

[00:04:00] with his father over the years and how his father views him, him wanting

[00:04:05] to move on with his own life and do his own things aside from just wrestling.

[00:04:08] That's not really spoiler. It's just minor things in the story.

[00:04:12] So it's a really, really dramatic emotional movie for sure. One of

[00:04:17] them more so in that vein that I've seen as of late. Really worth

[00:04:21] watching especially if you like true story films, biopics, a 24, one

[00:04:26] of their better recent films as well, which is that's a high bar,

[00:04:29] but it's definitely a good one as of late. The score is excellent.

[00:04:34] Good soundtrack. Lily James is very good. Really, everybody in the movie is

[00:04:38] top notch. Fantastic. Jeremy Allen White. He's kind of new to me.

[00:04:42] I haven't seen the bear or some of his other things, but I think he's

[00:04:46] excellent in this as sort of the unhinged brother. So even though

[00:04:52] I don't have much of an interest in wrestling at all, anything in that

[00:04:56] vein, it's still really engaging. So if you're someone who like,

[00:05:01] well, I don't really care about wrestling or boxing or fighting

[00:05:04] anything like that. Don't worry. I don't think you really need to be.

[00:05:07] It's very relatable in whoever you are in my opinion. So and a very

[00:05:13] good commentary on modern day perspectives and behaviors and

[00:05:18] how people can be viewed and changing traditions. Oh, and one

[00:05:23] quick thing that I love that I don't know if it's something

[00:05:27] that people are generally favorable on in this movie, but

[00:05:30] there is one scene towards the end, not to go in it too much.

[00:05:34] There's one scene that is sort of magical realism at the end where

[00:05:38] certain people reunite. And I think that was so touching.

[00:05:42] Like it's unexpected, but thinking about if it was your family,

[00:05:46] if it was yourself and this reuniting of family members, I

[00:05:52] think was so thoughtful and really tear jerking.

[00:05:57] And it was a perfect little end of sorts to the movie.

[00:06:03] So really very strong film.

[00:06:06] That is a heavy four out of five.