I used to be a brother.

The Iron Claw — 2.5/5

There are two scenes at the end of the movie that work tremendously well—so well that I wish more of the movie was built around them. The first, Jeremy Allen White's final journey down the river—though it doesn't work as well as it could have, because his role felt tucked in the background. For all the heat he's gotten these past two years, you'd expect his role to be bigger—and it should be, because he's probably the most interesting brother, the one most attuned to the family curse. Olympics hopes dashed, brothers lost, oppressive father, foot taken, playing through it, going unappreciated by a larger wrestling world, and eventual suicide. The other scene, the final scene, is Zac Efron saying he misses his brothers. It's beautifully done, and Zac Efron—as he has throughout the movie—carried the weight of his brothers. But it can't just be all sad. There has to be joy to create a pillow for sadness.  Everything that works in this movie is built on those brothers, who seem to genuinely like and care for each other. When they're together, there's a spark. There's a joy to wrestling and a joy to being together. But so much of the movie separates them, focusing on Zac's story. The other brothers' stories are more tragic, but Zac's performance wants to claim the sadness trophy. As in the story they tell on screen, he wants to be the star—but he's not as interesting as they are. There's a great movie in here; I just think they chose the wrong brother to focus on. 

Also, Maura Tierney's weird lips perfectly match Zac Efron's weird lips, perfect casting as mother-son, A+.