The Smashing Machine (2025) A24/Drama RT: 123 minutes Rated R (language and some drug abuse) Director: Benny Safdie Screenplay: Benny Safdie Music: Nala Sinephro Cinematography: Maceo Bishop Release date: October 3, 2024 (US) Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, Oleksandr Usyk, Lyndsey Gavin, Satoshi Ishii, James Moontasri, Yoko Hamamura, Stephan Quadros.
Rating: ***
The first thing you need to know about the new sports biopic The Smashing Machine is that isn’t a sports biopic. It would be more accurate to call it an anti-biopic with how writer-director Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems) adamantly refuses to lean into the usual genre clichés. He keeps the audience at arm’s length in telling the story of Mark Kerr, one of first stars of MMA, the full-contact fighting sport then known as UFC.
I would definitely be fair to say former wrestler Dwayne Johnson (once known as The Rock) gives the performance of his career in The Smashing Machine although you can barely recognize him under all that makeup. Granted, that bar isn’t very high, but he shows that he is capable of playing a character with gravitas. He plays Kerr as a man looking to make a name for himself in a sport that hasn’t yet become a household name. He’s a brute in the ring, pounding and pummeling his opponents until they can barely stand. Outside the ring, he’s kind of mess. He’s addicted to painkillers and has sudden mood swings. He also struggles with his relationship with his high-maintenance girlfriend Dawn (Blunt, A Quiet Place) who just wants him to let her in so she can understand him better. He’s not particularly nice to her, but he needs her to take care of him.
Kerr’s closest relationship is with fellow fighter Mark Coleman (real-life MMA artist Bader), a friend who doesn’t think twice about rushing to his side when he has a medical emergency. They’re buds meaning that them going up against each other in the finale is more or less an inevitability. Safdie rounds out the cast with other MMA figures like Satoshi Ishii, James Moontasri, Oleksandr Usyk and Bas Rutten. It gives the film a greater sense of realism. That’s what really distinguishes The Smashing Machine from other sports dramas. It’s dripping with realism, not a single ounce of Hollywood artifice.
Safdie, working in perfect harmony with cinematographer Maceo Bishop, takes a verite approach to the material making it feel more like a documentary. The camera follows Kerr around as he makes his way to and from the ring. He takes us into his home, locker rooms and doctor’s office. What’s interesting is how Safdie always shows the action from outside the ring. He never puts the viewer in the thick of the action. That’s what I mean when I said he keeps everybody at arm’s length. Also, it’s a way of constantly reminding us we’re watching a movie.
Johnson disappears into the role so thoroughly; it’s almost hard to believe it’s the same guy from the Fast & Furious franchise. He’s come a long way since The Scorpion King. Blunt is also good as the somewhat selfish girlfriend who goes out drinking with her friends even though Kerr is struggling with his sobriety. He’s so saint himself. He can be petty, getting on her about small stuff like how to properly make his morning smoothie and how to grow a cactus. The two have some explosive scenes together including one where he reduces a door to splinters. It’s a good pairing.
I get what Safdie is going for with lessening the emotional content in The Smashing Machine, but at the same time, it makes it feel less personal. Are we supposed to sympathize with Kerr? Are we supposed to not like Dawn? I don’t know. I felt kind of indifferent towards them both. I wouldn’t exactly say it hurts the movie, but it does leave the viewer wanting a bit more.
I admire Safdie as a filmmaker. He’s done some good stuff like two seriously underappreciated gems, Heaven Knows What (2014) and Good Time (2017). He imbues The Smashing Machine with the same palpable grittiness that completely obliterates the flash and dazzle one expects from a sports drama. It’s really more of a character study than anything else. Even better, it’s a character worthy of studying. Kerr might not be a legend, but he’s definitely more than a footnote in the history of MMA.
