Movie: The Smashing Machine (2025)
Production Companies: A24, Out for the Count, Seven Bucks Productions, Magnetic Fields Entertainment
Distributed by: A24
Producer(s): Benny Safdie, Dwayne Johnson, Eli Bush, Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia, David Koplan
Directed by: Benny Safdie
Written by: Benny Safdie
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten
Review by: Cam Wiggs

One of the most consistent talent pipelines for Hollywood has been professional wrestlers eager to trade in their trunks for a chance at acting on the big screen. From Dave Bautista to John Cena and, of course, Dwayne Johnson (formerly “The Rock”), this trend has only accelerated in recent years as these performers attempt to shed their championship belts for good in favor of a new title: “Actor”.

Of course, in order for people to see you as an actor, you have to prove you can act, which can be difficult to do in the comedies and superhero romps that typically attract this type of performer. No, in order to truly be seen as an actor it takes a convincing dramatic performance in a film deemed high-quality by critics and audiences alike. Dave Bautista has successfully accomplished this thanks to his roles in Blade Runner 2049, Dune, and Spectre (among others) and now Dwayne Johnson, perhaps the most commercially successful Wrestler-turned-Actor of all time wants his taste of critical acclaim.

That’s where Benny Safdie comes in. Fresh off helping Adam Sandler elevate his acting reputation to near Oscar-nominated status with Uncut Gems (2019), Benny is back (this time without his brother and longtime collaborator Josh Safdie) to try to do the same with Dwayne Johnson. His new film The Smashing Machine casts Johnson as Mark Kerr, a real-life fighter and pioneer in the sport we now know as the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC.

The story of Kerr is a unique one in the realm of sports biopics as he is a relative unknown. Usually, a story good enough to inspire a sports biopic is a story many of us have heard or even seen unfold on television. There’s also been no shortage of Fighting/Boxing biopics including some that have achieved legendary status in terms of critical acclaim. From Raging Bull, Rocky, and Fist of Fury to (more recently) Ali, Cinderella Man, The Fighter, and The Iron Claw, you could make a strong case that Fighting Biopic is one of the more over-saturated sub-genres in existence.

The brilliance of The Smashing Machine, though, is that Benny Safdie is well-aware of that history and uses it to his advantage by subverting the audience’s expectations at every turn. He relies heavily on the iconic imagery and theming we’ve come to expect in this genre but not in derivative manner. Instead he uses these tools to setup emotional impact points in his story. By craftily anticipating how his audience will feel throughout the story, Safdie is able to weaponize our own expectations to achieve maximum effectiveness in his key set pieces.

Of course, a story like this cannot work without good characters, which brings us back to Dwayne Johnson. Make no mistake about it, the hype we heard coming out of Venice Film Festival about Dwayne Johnson’s performance as Mark Kerr is justified. Johnson turns in a truly committed and transformative performance in The Smashing Machine. He is especially good in the highly-emotional scenes, which is probably safe to attribute to his wealth of personal experience as a professional wrestler and entertainer and the sort of vulnerability that comes with that. But that does not make his performance any less impressive in any way. That said, it’s not a perfect performance as Dwayne Johnson relies heavily on some repetitive vocal cadences and acting tricks to make it through the less emotionally dynamic sequences.

Thankfully, his most consistent scene partner in this film is the inimitable Emily Blunt. Blunt once again engages her chameleon-esque capabilities to disappear into the role of Kerr’s partner Dawn Staples, a performance that may very well earn her an Academy Award nomination before it is all said and done. When she is on the screen, she alleviates a ton of pressure from Dwayne Johnson, effortlessly guiding the scene and elevating her scene partner to arrive exactly where the film needs to go tonally. The film also features a delightfully solid performance from former UFC fighter Ryan Bader as Mark Kerr’s friend and fellow fighter Mark Coleman. Bader’s performance isn’t flashy but his presence lends a level of authenticity to the story as he comes across as exactly what he is, a real pro athlete. This is bet by Safdie and company that pays off in the end.

In fact, this movie makes a lot of big bets whether it be casting Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Bader in dramatic roles or choosing to do a new riff on the Fighting Biopic genre, this movie is nothing if not ambitious. And while most of these bets end up enhancing the latter part of the movie, it takes a lot of grinding and foundation laying at the front end to achieve that resolution. The beginning of The Smashing Machine is pretty dense. You spend nearly and hour wading through character development and seemingly benign dialogue before getting into the real substance of this story. Thankfully, as I mentioned earlier, the thematic payoffs are thoughtful and impactful but the beginning of the movie can feel a bit meandering. Unfortunately, I expect this will lead some to emotionally check out and miss out on the full impact of the movie. Once the light at the end of the tunnel appears, it is bright and enticing, but you’ve got to walk in the dark for awhile before then.

Still, The Smashing Machine is another prime example of why Benny Safdie is one of the most exciting voices in cinema right now. It uses a familiar formula to deliver something altogether unexpected and affecting. The film’s performances are great and its messages are grounded and touchingly human. So, while it may be hard to figure out where The Smashing Machine is taking you, don’t tap out. Stay along for the ride and you might find yourself thinking twice before the next time you call Dwayne Johnson “The Rock”.

8.2/10

By: Cam Wiggs