There's probably no other family in the world of professional wrestling that has endured more pain and sorrow than the Von Erichs of Texas. You might actually extend that dubious distinction to just about any family anywhere. Patriarch Fritz Von Erich (real name John 'Jack' Adkisson) was a big-name star during the Fifties and Sixties, feared for his famous signature finishing move, 'The Iron Claw'. Five of his sons followed his footsteps into a wrestling career with varying degrees of success, or lack thereof. The only one left alive is Kevin, who at a young age, was never explained the death of his six-year-old brother Jackie, the first of the Von Erich children to die an unnatural death by electric shock and drowning.
This movie was a whole lot better than I expected it to be. Personally, I lost interest in professional wrestling around the mid-1980's, just around the time the older Von Erichs were making their mark in the field. I knew father Fritz Von Erich to be a dangerous competitor during his era of the Fifties and Sixties, and when in the movie, he complains of not getting the recognition he needed to be elevated to World Heavyweight Champion, one might consider it was his grating personality as an aggressive self-promoter that stood in the way. Holt McCallany was a good choice for Fritz, who he resembled quite closely.
Having not followed the entertainment sport for almost forty years now, the chronology of events in this movie challenged me at times, but it was all there. Except for one nagging omission, that being one Von Erich brother missing from the narrative. For the sake of keeping the story constrained within a budget, director Sean Durkin opted to make Mike Von Erich (Stanley Simons) a composite figure of his real-life counterpart and yet another brother, Chris. Had Chris been included, the emotional overload would have been even more grueling, as Chris also committed suicide by gunshot two years before Kerry, portrayed by Jeremy Allen White. Following Chris's suicide, Fritz and Doris Von Erich (Maura Tierney) divorced after three months, an event omitted from the story.
Befitting the family's tragic history, the movie's final scene with Kevin (Zac Efron) hugging his two young sons and sorrowfully stating that he's no longer a brother is enough to bring a tear to one's eye. A closing frame of Kevin's present day family of four children and thirteen grandchildren doesn't offer the fact that his two sons, Kevin and David, are currently professional wrestlers themselves. One would certainly hope that the curse of the Von Erichs doesn't extend to the present generation.
P. S. - If you would like to go directly to the source, look up the first season episode of "Dark Side of the Ring: The Last of the Von Erichs". In it, Kevin Von Erich takes the viewer through the circumstances surrounding the death of each of his brothers. Be prepared for the present-day Kevin, the episode was filmed in 2019. He's a gaunt and almost frail looking individual with a subdued and composed manner when speaking about his father and brothers.
This movie was a whole lot better than I expected it to be. Personally, I lost interest in professional wrestling around the mid-1980's, just around the time the older Von Erichs were making their mark in the field. I knew father Fritz Von Erich to be a dangerous competitor during his era of the Fifties and Sixties, and when in the movie, he complains of not getting the recognition he needed to be elevated to World Heavyweight Champion, one might consider it was his grating personality as an aggressive self-promoter that stood in the way. Holt McCallany was a good choice for Fritz, who he resembled quite closely.
Having not followed the entertainment sport for almost forty years now, the chronology of events in this movie challenged me at times, but it was all there. Except for one nagging omission, that being one Von Erich brother missing from the narrative. For the sake of keeping the story constrained within a budget, director Sean Durkin opted to make Mike Von Erich (Stanley Simons) a composite figure of his real-life counterpart and yet another brother, Chris. Had Chris been included, the emotional overload would have been even more grueling, as Chris also committed suicide by gunshot two years before Kerry, portrayed by Jeremy Allen White. Following Chris's suicide, Fritz and Doris Von Erich (Maura Tierney) divorced after three months, an event omitted from the story.
Befitting the family's tragic history, the movie's final scene with Kevin (Zac Efron) hugging his two young sons and sorrowfully stating that he's no longer a brother is enough to bring a tear to one's eye. A closing frame of Kevin's present day family of four children and thirteen grandchildren doesn't offer the fact that his two sons, Kevin and David, are currently professional wrestlers themselves. One would certainly hope that the curse of the Von Erichs doesn't extend to the present generation.
P. S. - If you would like to go directly to the source, look up the first season episode of "Dark Side of the Ring: The Last of the Von Erichs". In it, Kevin Von Erich takes the viewer through the circumstances surrounding the death of each of his brothers. Be prepared for the present-day Kevin, the episode was filmed in 2019. He's a gaunt and almost frail looking individual with a subdued and composed manner when speaking about his father and brothers.