“When you win, nothing else in the world matters.” Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson)
When your real-life mixed-martial arts and UFC champion says that, no surprise. But in writer/director Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, Dwayne Johnson brings multiple dimensions more that winning. As the titular world champ, he’s less cocky than that quote and more loving, at least by the time he has left the ring.
Although Johnson’s role may be a tad shy of an Oscar nomination, Johnson has entered an arena where his character is less smile and physique than contemplative hero plagued by thoughts of the way he fights with his girlfriend, Dawn (Emily Blunt), and loves his buddy, Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader). When he berates her for not using the exact ingredients for his smoothie, Johnson gives us insight into the control-freak of Mark’s success. The way he accepts but secretly cries about possibly fighting Mark Coleman for the world championship is acting of subtly and authenticity.
In the couple's argument scenes, both actors show the many nuances that accompany couples caught between love and ambition. While the professional fight scenes may lack the robust visuals and pain of, say, Creed or Raging Bull (Smashing is shot in 16 mm and VHS), the low production values emphasize the honesty of the depiction.
The sequence at the credits of real-life Mark Kerr today at a market show a humble man that Johnson caught in his essentially unadorned performance (except for the muscles). The Smashing Machine is a proper entry in the lineup of good biopics and great professional fighting movies.
The Smashing Machine
Director: Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems)
Screenplay: Safdie
Cast: Dwayne Johnson (Moana)
Rating: R
Length: 2h 3m
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take (recently listed by Feedspot as two of the ten best NPR Movie Podcasts) out of WCBE 90.5 FM, Columbus, Ohio.Contact him at JohnDeSando52@gmail.com