From Dwayne Johnson’s start in the wrestling ring, to his career in Hollywood, it’s hard to ignore his hulking persona. He’s entertaining for sure, and a great action star, but an award winning actor he has not been. That could change with The Smashing Machine.
The Smashing Machine tells three years of MMA and UFC. UFC pioneer Mark Kerr’s (Johnson) story. Kerr has an explosive relationship with Dawn (Emily Blunt). Also, he has a lot of distractions to overcome before he canbe famous.
One thing that immediately stands out is the juxtaposition with which Johnson plays the role. While his body is massive, his personality is calm and soft spoken. Let’s face it, it’s hard to imagine Johnson ever talking softly. Even the physical transformation he undertook to change his appearance makes him hard to recognize. Is it an award winning role? Probably not, but it is good to see that Johnson does have some acting chops on him.
The biggest problem with The Smashing Machine is that the story is very uneven. This prevents you from truly feeling the characters. Yes Kerr’s struggle is real, but in the end it’s hard to care about what he’s going through.
The Smashing Machine has some fun moments, but there are much better sports movies out there to watch. Kerr is not an underdog, he’s not a washed up fighter looking for one last chance, he’s just a wrestler trying his hardest to win. And that’s just not very entertaining.
- Rated: R
- Genre: Biography, Drama, sport
- Directed by: Benny Safdie
- Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader
- Produced by: Benny Safdie, Dany Garcia, David Koplan, Dwayne Johnson, Eli Bush, Hiram Garcia
- Written by: Benny Safdie
- Studio: A24, Seven Bucks Productions
