It doesn’t take long to understand the level of commitment Zac Efron brings to “The Iron Claw” as Texas wrestling brother Kevin Von Erich. Just one look at the taut mass of muscle and sinew he’s become for the role will do the trick.
It's also clear from the get-go how invested writer-director Sean Durkin was in telling the true-life tale of the Von Erich family wrestling dynasty, which — shockingly, to those of us unfamiliar with the story — suffered a set of tragic losses almost too staggering to imagine. It’s hardly a spoiler alert to say that Kevin, by 35, was the only surviving brother of an original six. (He is now 66). Indeed, so devastating is the story that Durkin felt the need to excise brother Chris, one of three lost to suicide, from this retelling entirely.
