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SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for The Iron Claw. If you haven’t watched Von Erich wrestling drama, please exercise caution or come back after checking it out.
Just like a lot of my colleagues, I thought The Iron Claw was one of 2023’s best movies and a film that got unfairly snubbed at the Oscars. Even before I saw Sean Durkin’s gut-wrenching biographical drama about the Von Erich wrestling dynasty, one known equally for its successes and tragedies, I had a feeling this movie was going to put me through the wringer, and it did.
So, when The Iron Claw made its streaming debut, I made sure to revisit this instant classic with my Max subscription as soon as humanly possible. And, after watching the Zac Efron-led wrestling biopic for a second time, I can’t stop thinking about a short yet powerful scene, one that perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the story. Allow me to explain…
The Von Erich Brothers Getting Burgers And Tubing On Their Day Off Perfectly Sets Up The Rest Of The Iron Claw
About 14 minutes into The Iron Claw, Kevin (Zac Efron) and David (Harris Dickinson) pick up Mike (Stanley Simons) from band practice before going off for a day spent tubing on their day off. Though it’s a short scene that’s no longer than a couple of minutes, the sequence is incredibly powerful and perfectly sets up everything that happens in the subsequent two hours.
In a few short minutes, the unbreakable bond and connection shared by the three Von Erich brothers is illustrated masterfully, with nothing more than a few lines about burgers.
From David telling Mike “I’ll eat a burger with you, little brother” after Kevin says they have food in the cooler to the quick cut to all three brothers eating burgers while listening to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to the shot of the three lazily floating down some East Texas river, the whole series of events is beautiful, poignant, and emotional. This is especially true when you know what’s waiting just around the bend.
For These Few Short Minutes, The Von Erichs Are Brothers Above Anything Else, Including Wrestlers
On the surface, The Iron Claw is a movie about wrestling and one of the most important families the sport has ever seen. However, deep down, Sean Durkin’s emotional sports biopic is really about the bond shared by four brothers (Jeremy Allen White’s Kerry Von Erich hasn’t been introduced at this point in the film) and how their relationship was impacted by their successes and obstacles both in and out of the ring. There are some great brotherly moments throughout the rest of the movie, but the burger/tubing scene best illustrates that connection.
For these few short minutes, the Von Erichs aren’t the central figures of their father’s World Class Championship Wrestling promotion, but instead, three brothers who don’t want to be anywhere but where they are at that moment. Watching this scene, I was flooded with emotions and memories of spending lazy summer afternoons with my two brothers and how I took those cherished moments for granted all those years.
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers’ ‘Don’t Do Me Like That’ Perfectly Sets The Tone
The Iron Claw has a lot going for it with its story, cast, production value, and just about everything else, including its fantastic soundtrack. Filled with classics like Rush’s “Tom Petty,” John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” and Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” the soundtrack just hits. This is especially true for “Don’t Do Me Like That,” from the 1979 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album, Damn the Torpedoes, the track playing throughout this scene.
I love it when movies have a track playing over a radio as part of a scene before transitioning in as part of the soundtrack, and it’s done masterfully here. This transition puts us in the scene with the Von Erich brothers and they take part in a day they won’t soon forget.
Yeah, the song’s lyrics discuss the breakdown and fallout of a failed relationship, but lines like “Love doesn’t last that long,” also fit into the story of a family that is a few short years away from tragedy.
The Scene Is Also Light And Casual, Which Can’t Be Said About Most Of The Movie
I also can’t stop thinking about how light, carefree, and joyful this scene is, compared to the vast majority of The Iron Claw. Sure, there are some light party scenes and some great wrestling sequences that perfectly capture the beauty and spirit of the Von Erichs’ wrestling abilities, but this movie is heavy. As noted by multiple critics ahead of the film’s December 2023 release, The Iron Claw is a heartbreaking exploration of family, fame, grief, and curses, as well as how all of that impacts our lives.
But this scene, with its burgers, brotherly bonds, Tom Petty, and tubing away your troubles on an East Texas afternoon, is a rare moment of levity that goes a long way, despite being only a few minutes long. Since the movie landed on Max, I’ve found myself watching this scene over and over again, allowing me to remember the good times, especially after taking in the emotional Iron Claw ending.
I Cried My Eyes Out When The Deceased Von Erich Brothers Returned To The River In The Afterlife
The joy and lighthearted nature of the burgers and river scene early in The Iron Claw make the film’s final scene all the more emotional and fulfilling. Of course, I’m talking about the aftermath of Kerry Von Erich’s suicide where Kevin (the only surviving member of the family) imagines his brothers reuniting in the afterlife. Instead of a ring or the family home, their spirits reconnect on the dock of a river, just like the one they floated down all those years ago.
Kerry, David, and Mike share a warm embrace along the banks just before meeting their oldest brother, Jack Jr., who tragically drowned at the age of six, and walk into the afterlife together. These two scenes, which are on opposite ends of the emotional spectrum, are made better because of each other and really help drive home the point of the film: the bond shared by the brothers.
It’s safe to say that The Iron Claw is one of my favorite movies of the past few years, and the river scene is one of the main reasons for that. It’s the perfect balance to the film’s tragic story, which had to leave out another Von Erich death because it was just too much tragedy, and a scene I won’t soon forget.