January Jams Part 2: The Iron Claw & Maestro

Need to get more biopics into your cinematic viewing rotation? Well there are currently two powerful films you can watch. Warning though, you might have to bring a hanky.

The Iron Claw: Written and directed by Sean Durkin, this is the true story of the Von Erich family, a wrestling dynasty that was dogged by horrifying tragedy in the early 1980s. Zac Efron plays Kevin, the eldest son of the family, and boy is he ripped and almost unrecognizable in this role. He is a quiet but stoic man who loves his younger brothers deeply and is desperate to take care of the family. Unfortunately, he is up against the wild ambitions of his father, Fritz (Holt McCallany), a former wrestler who never garnered as much fame as he thought he deserved and is now hellbent on creating a family wrestling empire that will take the wrestling world by storm. 

The second oldest son, Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), is a discus thrower due to compete in the 1980 Summer Olympics, but the boycott sends him back home where he now joins Kevin and their other brother David (Harris Dickinson) in the ring to compete as a fierce trio of brothers. Meanwhile, their youngest brother, Mike (Stanley Simons), would much rather be a musician, but don't you worry, he'll end up in the ring too. 

The wrestling sequences are wonderfully choreographed but the meat of this story is about the string of tragedies that hits this family in rapid succession, leading Kevin to become convinced the family curse might not just be a superstition but actual fact. I won't give anything way - suffice to say, I was expecting one tragic death and then got way more than I had bargained for. It's a lot to take, but these actors are incredible, particularly Efron as the stalwart older brother who has to watch his beautiful family unravel in front of his eyes and has to reckon with the pressures of toxic masculinity and the unhealthy relationship he has with his father. It is beautifully written, powerfully acted, and even though it's heavy, it will certainly move your heart. Watch this movie and then go tell all the men in your life to have a nice little cry. They will thank you for it.

Maestro: Directed by Bradley Cooper, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Josh Singer and then stars in it, this is the story of Leonard Bernstein, the man who was America's first great renowned conductor. It chronicles his early beginnings when he got the call to make his conducting debut at the New York Philharmonic when a guest conductor fell sick and his subsequent meteoric rise. It is also a love story, a tale of his relationship with the actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan, putting in a dazzling performance), who he would go on to marry. Their marriage was complicated by the fact that Bernstein continued to have affairs with men, so you know...that's a bit of a challenge.

If you are a Bernstein fan, this movie should be right up your alley. The score consists entirely of Bernstein's compositions, so you may notice familiar snippets throughout the film. As I am a Bernstein novice, I was less moved by that aspect of the film, but I did find the acting by Cooper and Mulligan to be quite stellar, with both affecting those strange pseudo-British accents of the 1940s that I associate with screwball comedies. They banter deliciously in the early parts of their courtship. and later on, when their marriage has started to sour, there is a surreal and bizarrely comic scene, where they are having a fight while the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade takes place outside their windows. 

This is a visually inventive movie, and it captures so much of the joy and passion that Bernstein put into his music. It isn't a standard, dull biopic, instead finding clever cinematographic ways to elevate the material and give us something that feels just a little bit out there. It's not a hagiography, but an honest portrait of a complicated and brilliant man, and it might compel you to spend some more time exploring the many sides of Leonard Bernstein.