The Smashing Machine
3 out of 5 stars

By J.C. Correa

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has come a long way since body-slamming his way to the top of the professional wrestling world. His natural charisma and ample magnetism in front of the camera allowed him to quickly transition into a hugely successful career in Hollywood, one that has been going on now for the better part of 25 years. He has had a continuous string of hits and placed himself within some of the industry’s most lucrative franchises. 

Despite this distinguished track record – or perhaps because of it – Johnson has sidestepped this trend and made the bold choice to embrace what may be categorized as his first ever passion project. By playing real life MMA legend Mark Kerr in a biographical sports drama about him, Johnson has taken on a role that, on the surface at least, may seem like a natural fit by virtue of both his enormous physique and extensive career as a wrestler. But the troubled Kerr, who was a UFC champion during the company’s early years, all the while navigating a crippling drug addiction, proves to be a dramatic challenge for Johnson, the likes of which he has never faced.

The Smashing Machine is written and directed by Benny Safdie, who over the past 10 years has churned out gripping, tautly made character dramas like Uncut Gems and Good Time. Applying his usual hand-held, cinéma vérité style, Safdie reportedly shot the picture on 16mm film, and goes to great lengths to give it as naturalistic a feel as possible. It suits the material and also augments the urgency of what it’s depicting. All of this, along with the jazzy, atmospheric score by first-time composer Nala Sinephro, aids in giving off the constant impression of a fever dream. The fact that Darren Aronofsky used an almost identical approach on his superb 2008 drama The Wrestler may explain why that movie frequently comes to mind when watching Safdie’s film, even though The Smashing Machine certainly doesn’t reach its emotional or artistic heights. 

Safdie constructs several great sequences that lingered with me long after the credits rolled. One of these involves an embarrassed Kerr hitting rock bottom on a hospital bed as he comes clean about his addiction, and Johnson’s work is largely the reason why it hits as it does. There is another terrific moment when Kerr’s girlfriend Dawn (a sassy and wonderful Emily Blunt) boards a centrifuge ride at a fun fair without her man because he is worried about getting sick on it. The toxic codependency of their dynamic is given symbolic freedom when, once inside the contraption, Dawn lets herself go fully by allowing her body to spin in a gravity-defying upside-down position. Best of all, though, is a domestic interaction between them that starts off as harmonious and hopeful, only to then devolve into a frightening conflict that ends in near tragedy. The filmmaker plays Bruce Springsteen’s epic “Jungleland” within the scene and weaves it in and out of the soundtrack along the song’s natural progression. Viewers familiar with the tune’s emotional ebbs and flows should be able to appreciate the brilliant juxtaposition that its usage brings to the sequence. 

Johnson plays Kerr like a gentle giant throughout. He speaks and behaves mostly with a kind and soft demeanor, but also exhibits signs of emotional frailty and pain, coming across as a lost puppy at times. Under heavy prosthetics that include cauliflower ears, the former WWE star loses himself quite successfully in the role, and his work here is easily a career highlight from an acting standpoint. Having previously costarred with Blunt in Disney’s Jungle Cruise franchise, both actors share a natural chemistry that ends up becoming one of the movie’s better assets.

Despite all of these strengths, the picture suffers from several flaws that prevent it from hitting the high marks that it aspires to. Though we are told that Kerr is an addict (and see him inject an opiate for pain management), we are not actually given any scenes in which we witness the destructive effect of this on his life, beyond Dawn reprimanding him for it. Dawn herself is quite a complicated individual (much like her relationship with Kerr), but the screenplay paints her as somewhat wild and inconsistent in that one minute she cares for her boyfriend and freaks out at his condition, but then just as easily turns on him coldly and seems genuinely annoyed by him. While it is implied that Dawn has her own addictions, that topic is not developed enough, thus robbing her contradictory behavior of a natural evolution. 

The movie is based almost entirely on the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr. Considering that it makes it a point to faithfully depict and recreate events that the documentary already explicitly portrayed, it does beg the question of whether or not its existence is justified. As an acting showcase for Johnson (and Blunt as well, to be fair), the answer would be yes. But as the definitive account of the story and career arc of Kerr, the punches may land more strongly in their original form.

The Smashing Machine is currently playing in theaters.