
Dwayne Johnson gives one of the strongest performances of his career in Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, a film that focuses less on spectacle and more on the quiet struggles of mixed martial arts legend Mark Kerr. Though the movie avoids the unrelenting chaos often associated with the Safdie brothers’ work, it still paints an intimate portrait of a man wrestling with glory, pain, and personal demons.
Safdie, directing solo for the first time, adapts John Hyams’s 2002 documentary of the same name. The story follows Kerr, a dominant MMA fighter in the late 1990s, played by Johnson in a stripped-down, unglamorous performance. Gone are the actor’s trademark charm and polished Hollywood persona. Instead, Johnson transforms into a brooding figure, his head covered with cropped dark hair and his body stiff with suppressed tension.
The film’s early moments capture Kerr’s obsession with victory. He boasts about sensing fear in his opponents and compares his triumphs to feeling like a god. But the narrative soon pivots when Kerr faces defeat in Japan’s Pride Fighting Championship. Though the match is officially ruled a tie, the humiliation lingers, forcing him to confront his own vulnerability.
Much of the film focuses on Kerr’s battles outside the ring, particularly his growing dependence on opioids to cope with physical punishment. His personal life is equally turbulent. His relationship with wife Dawn Staples, played with nuance by Emily Blunt, reveals both moments of tenderness and volatility. Their feuds, sometimes erupting before matches, highlight the strain of Kerr’s double life as both fighter and husband.
A secondary but meaningful thread explores Kerr’s friendship with fellow fighter and trainer Mark Coleman, portrayed by former Bellator champion Ryan Bader. This dynamic adds a layer of authenticity, grounding the story in the real-world connections of the MMA community.
While Johnson’s performance is deeply compelling, the film itself struggles to probe the darker corners of its subject matter. Safdie’s grainy, VHS-inspired style suggests grit, yet the story often pulls back from fully engaging with the brutality of the sport. Instead, it settles into a more conventional rhythm, emphasizing character over chaos.
Still, what lingers is Johnson’s transformation. In stepping away from his usual blockbuster persona, he inhabits Kerr with vulnerability, rage, and quiet humanity. The Smashing Machine may lack the edge some expected, but it delivers a memorable portrait of a fighter learning to live with defeat.
Rated R for language and drug abuse. Running time: 123 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
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