Being a fighter requires getting into a certain headspace and using techniques to take opponents down, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to having a violent personality or an eagerness to fight other people. The drive, however, is something that is critical to keep someone going and to ensuring that they are fully present in each scenario and ready to win. One of the early figures of mixed martial arts was Mark Kerr, a skilled wrestler who spent considerable time competing in the Pride Fighting Championships. Benny Safdie makes his solo directorial debut with The Smashing Machine, a stirring portrait of Kerr in which he’s played by an actor who also got his start as a wrestler in a transformative performance.
Kerr emerges on the scene in small competitions, and in the video footage that serves as the film’s introduction, he knocks his opponent out right away and then expresses genuine concern as to whether he’s okay. He’s soon a regular in Japan alongside his good friend and fellow wrestler Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader), where he continues to dominate. He’s undeniably talented but also wants to do anything to win and soon becomes addicted to opioids. As he tries to get clean and stage a return to Pride, he has the support of his girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt), though their most frequent arguments revolve around how her presence in proximity to his but fights doesn’t always help him get into the right headspace.
This film is notable for multiple reasons, starting with Safdie making his first film on his own, which he also wrote, edited, and produced. There are similarities to his previous work with his brother Josh, but this is unquestionably his most mainstream film yet. It has a somewhat grainy and dated look and feel to it that grounds it in its late 1990s setting and also visually humanizes its characters. The fights aren’t glossy or glamorous but instead full of quiet closeups as Kerr – and Coleman, whose supporting role is quite substantial – meets his opponents in the ring. Working with previous collaborator, cinematographer Maceo Bishop, helps the film capture Kerr’s very human drama as well as keep the fights engaging for all audiences, regardless of their preexisting personal investment and interest in this world.
While Johnson, best known to the world as The Rock, has been acting for more than two decades, he’s never done anything like his. Kerr also has bulging muscles and an ability to knock people out, but he doesn’t possess the same energy and showy ego that defines so many of Johnson’s action-laced turns. While he does break down a kitchen door with one simple passionate hit, there’s a gentleness to Kerr that makes him a magnetic protagonist. Aided by makeup and hairstyling that changes his look just enough, Johnson is unrecognizable in this role, playing someone from the same world but who feels so far from his public persona. The way he speaks and engages with others demonstrates a truly immersive acting performance, a first for an actor who has consistently delivered exactly what he’s been asked to do but wonderfully excels in this new arena.
As Dawn, Blunt, who finally earned her first Oscar nomination recently for Oppenheimer and should be back in the race for this part, is enormously compelling as a supportive partner who tries to be there for Kerr but doesn’t show up in the way he needs. Theoretically insignificant comments and responses trigger aggressive replies from Kerr, and the limited snapshots of this relationship presented feel vividly real thanks to the impressive work from Blunt and Johnson in their shared scenes. This film doesn’t glaze over their problems or Kerr’s shortcomings, confronting them in an open and honest manner and putting them on full display for audiences to see.
As a biography of a man rather than a chronicle of the history of this sport, this film wisely chooses to keep the technicalities of how Kerr fights to a minimum, incorporating announcers detailing how Kerr plans to fight and what that means, generally speaking, in relation to his usual approach. The film runs just over two hours but it feels like all its content is necessary, limiting it to a three-year period rather than a greater overview of his career to isolate the most important moments and present those as key examples of Kerr’s trajectory. Both Safdie and Johnson are doing something new here and succeeding well, and audiences should hope to see more of this terrific work from both of them in the future, though, given its impact, this is likely the defining role of Johnson’s (acting) career.
Movie Rating: 8/10
