The Iron Claw

The Iron Claw tries terribly hard to give the impression that the holds it employs and the punches that it throws are real. Thanks to the motif of wrestling as painful theatre that is only a spectacle but still manages to fully absorb and scar both viewers and the participants alike, it even inventively plays with the meta-illusion of wounds, which the film inflicts on the viewer. In order for this illusion to be perfect, however, Durkin would have to as skilled a screenwriter as he is a director. But he’s not. Family relationships dissolve in his hands, the individual storylines are half-baked, characters somewhat randomly disappear and the grand words and literal symbolic scenes do not create the illusion of completeness. Efron put on a lot of muscle, but his acting is squishy and flat. He can’t hold the film together with his turnip head of a cursed good guy who is stronger than he thinks. The concentration of tragedy due to unsatisfying ellipses may ultimately arouse more cynicism than participation, and this whole sweaty routine about fragile masculinity finally pins itself to the mat with its silly ending. (07.03.2024)

I was looking forward to it, but I'm disappointed. I usually like sports dramas a lot, but this one just missed the mark. It's an ungratifying slow-burn that is only two hours long, but feels like three, because I thought several times in the cinema that it should have ended long ago and it just kept going on and on (things that could be summed up in like ten mintes minutes are dealt with for an hour, etc.); I just wasn't enjoying it at all and by the halfway point I was looking at my watch. The performances were okay, Zac Efron and Allen White were the best, I like them both, but the backstage of wrestling was a lot less entertaining than I expected. You don’t really get to enjoy the fights, the whole thing is uninteresting and the family drama didn't work for me either, I found it emotionally cold. It's also shot quite amateurishly and the story based on true events is interesting, but it somehow goes without any significant surprises or drama. Again, I don't understand the positive general reception, a pure festival film for a fringe audience that is annoyingly long and drawn out. 55% (08.02.2024)