‘The Iron Claw’ Review: Sean Durkin Gives A Wrestling Dynasty Its Flowers

The Iron Claw is officially out in theaters! Starring Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, and Stanley Simons, the film tells the story of the Von Erich family. White plays Kerry Von Erich, the “Modern Day Warrior,” who became a beloved wrestling superstar worldwide before he died by suicide. To play the role, White had to fit the part, and with training and a lot of eating, he gained 40 pounds of muscle.The 32-year-old star had to live by a strict training regime and consume a lot of calories.

Until very recently with the release of James Wan’s Aquaman, the film side of the DC Universe has had patchy track record to say the least. Warner Bros are clearly still finding their feet, while also chasing the tail of their Disney competitors. On the animated side of the spectrum however, things have always looked a little brighter. DC have always been comfortably reliable in terms of their animated output, dating all the way back to the critically acclaimed Batman series of the 90’s. Now, Warner Animation have taken another stab at the renowned ‘Death of Superman’ comic storyline.The well-documented and heavily-adapted plotline of the early 90’s is something even casual audience members will have an awareness of by now.

Guy Lodge Film Critic Quick, silly and lent weight only by the costume department’s copious wigs and furs, “The Crime Is Mine” finds tireless French auteur François Ozon in the playful period pastiche mode of “Potiche” and “8 Women.” It’s a film less about any frenetic onscreen shenanigans as it is about its own mood board of sartorial and cinematic reference points — Jean Renoir, Billy Wilder, some vintage Chanel — and as such it slips down as fizzily and forgettably as a bottle of off-brand sparkling wine. This story of an aspiring stage star standing trial for a top impresario’s murder (and making the most of her moment in the tabloid flashbulbs) may be based on a nearly 90-year-old play, but for those versed more in Hollywood and Broadway than in French theater, Ozon’s adaptation resembles a kind of diva fanfic: What if Roxie Hart went up against Norma Desmond, except in rollicking 1930s Paris? As it happens, Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil’s 1934 comedy “Mon crime” has twice been adapted into Hollywood screwball romps: 1937’s Carole Lombard vehicle “True Confession” and the lesser 1946 remake “Cross My Heart,” starring Betty Hutton.

Michaela Zee “The Iron Claw” revolves around the Von Erich family, a dynasty of professional wrestlers who made history in the intensely competitive sport in the early 1980s. Based on a true story, the A24 drama features Von Erich brothers Kevin (Zac Efron), David (Harris Dickinson), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) and Mike (Stanley Simons). One brother, however, was omitted from the film altogether: Chris Von Erich.

J. Kim Murphy ‘Twas the weekend before Christmas and all through the theaters, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” was the box office leader.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Jeremy Allen White may co-star with Zac Efron in Sean Durkin’s new wrestling drama “The Iron Claw,” but the Emmy-winning “The Bear” actor has something to admit — he has never watched a “High School Musical” movie. “I haven’t seen them,” White says on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast. “Sorry, Zac.

Jaden Thompson Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White turned heads this year when fans noticed they packed on pounds of muscle for their A24 wrestling drama “The Iron Claw,” which is based on the lives of the Von Erich brothers. Efron, Allen and the rest of the cast put in serious work to look the part for the film — but once they gained that muscle, how did they perfect those wrestling moves? Chavo Guerrero, Jr., former pro wrestler and stunt coordinator on “The Iron Claw,” speaks with Variety to unpack the actors’ intensive training process. After communicating with director Sean Durkin about his vision for the film, Guerrero began by acquainting the actors with the wrestling ring and the fundamentals of the sport.

Zac Efron is back on the big screen with his new A24 movie The Iron Claw.

Watching “The Iron Claw” can feel like getting slammed with a metal folding chair over and over again.So bludgeoning are the true and tragic circumstances that befell the famous Von Erich wresting family during the 1980s and 90s, which director Sean Durkin’s film depicts.Running time: 130 minutes. Rated R (language, suicide, some sexuality and drug use.) In theaters.Starting about halfway through the movie that stars Zac Efron in prime meathead mode, a shaken man sitting next to me in the theater repeatedly whispered “What the f–k?” about fifty times.

during an interview on the “Today” show — due to an eye infection. Efron, alongside co-stars Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson and Stanley Simons, appeared on the morning program to promote their new film, “The Iron Claw.” “Zac Efron is a legitimate, bona fide Hollywood superstar but that is not the reason he is in shades right now,” host Craig Melvin laughed as he introduced the quartet. The “High School Musical” actor then apologized for his appearance.“No, I’m sorry, man,” Efron, 36, told Melvin, 44.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large And then there were four. Season 10 of Fox’s “The Masked Singer” airs this Wednesday with finalists Donut (Group C champion), Sea Queen (Group B winner), Cow (Group A victor) and Group A “Ding Dong Keep It On” recipient Gazelle.

Zac Efron opened up in a confessional new interview.

Zac Efron was two movies deep into the Disney Channel’s “High School Musical” franchise, in which he played singing, dancing basketball phenom Troy Bolton. He’d been the swoony romantic lead in the movie musical “Hairspray,” opposite John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer, was shortly to play opposite Matthew Perry in “17 Again,” and had pulled his T-shirt up on the cover of Rolling Stone under the headline “The New American Heartthrob.” At 21, Efron might have seemed like the kind of actor who was as likely to watch footage of the moon landing and decide to become an astronaut as he was to take inspiration from Mickey Rourke’s grizzled, broken-down performance. And yet.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Gladiators, pain freaks, brutes, clowns, true athletes, fake competitors: The slab-of-meat stars of professional wrestling are all those things. And back in the 1980s, when wrestling was reaching its cultural zenith, it almost looked as if you could divide the world between those who took wrestling on the level and those who dismissed it as a vulgar, over-the-top bad joke.

Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White were joined by some wrestling legends at the L.A. premiere of their new indie movie The Iron Claw!

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Palestinian refugees have been arriving in the slum district of Sabra and Shalila on the outskirts of Beirut since what Israel calls the War of Independence in 1948. Forty-four years later, their presence (and that of suspected PLO fighters) got targeted in a mid-September massacre by the Christian militia known as Lebanese Forces, executed while Israeli Defense Forces who’d already invaded the nation three months prior stood by. Another four decades have passed since, during which span the area has remained not just a last-resort magnet for multinational refugees, but “the most lawless, poorest, dirtiest place” in the city.

We’re getting closer to the release of the highly-anticipated movie The Iron Claw!

With awards season around the corner, it’s time for countries to select the Best International Feature Film for the Oscars. Bhutan’s pick? Pawo Choyning Dorji‘s “The Monk And The Gun,” which had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival earlier this year.

Martin Scorsese‘s Western historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon on Wednesday was named Best Film by the National Board of Review, the second major awards honor for the Apple Original Films pic this week after it also won the top prize from the New York Film Critics Circle.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Warner Bros. Discovery inked a multiyear U.S.