The Smashing Machine – REVIEW

“The unforgettable true story of a UFC legend.”

Director: Benny Safdie
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, and Oleksandr Usyk
Synopsis: “The story of legendary mixed martial arts and UFC fighter Mark Kerr.”

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I’ve really been looking forward to this one. It never dawned on me until I started to write this, but The Smashing Machine feels like a personal milestone for me. The first A24-distributed movie I’ve seen in a theater was Uncut Gems with Adam Sandler back in 2019, and I vividly remember being physically on the edge of my seat after that. I had such a visceral reaction to Uncut Gems, and I can also remember what I thought when the credits finished and the audience began to clear out: “I wanna make movies.” I can point out other movies in my life that I really love and are my personal favorites, but this is the movie that convinced me to commit to going to film school. Six years have passed since then, and I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime since then. I graduated and got my Bachelor’s degree, on top of living through my college years. The fact that this review is starting off as raving that I lived through college doesn’t really exactly mean anything here, but I’ve always had one thing in the back of my head: what are the Safdie brothers going to do next? That next thing was… split as a directing duo. Josh and Benny Safdie, the directors of Uncut Gems and as well as the equally great Good Time, aren’t working together anymore. The last thing they were credited on together was The Curse, the surreal house-flipping show with Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone, an absolutely wonderful bit of television. Benny is a producer on the show, as well as one of the main actors alongside Stone and Fielder. Josh was an executive producer. Why am I mentioning The Curse here, though? This is a review of The Smashing Machine, the first Safdie movie since Uncut Gems. The Smashing Machine is Benny’s, Josh’s movie is Marty Supreme, which is out this December. To me, this is a cause of celebration. However, there’s a whole different side to this movie, the side that arguably is the bigger headline, at this point: Dwayne Johnson. Global mega-superstar, multi-hyphenate guy, “The Rock.” You know who he is, but he wants to be taken seriously as an actor. His DC takeover, Black Adam, blew up in his face unlike any other of his vehicles, and the garish Red One is like spoiled fruitcake: really, really bad. He knows that he needs to take a risk, be pushed again, and not just be the guy wearing beige shirts and cargo shorts in the jungle again. If anyone would do it, a Safdie brother would certainly be out of his wheelhouse.

The Smashing Machine is actually a project Johnson’s been wanting to do for years, dating back to 2019. How did it turn out, though? As it says above, The Smashing Machine follows Mark Kerr, an amateur wrestler and MMA fighter, during his time as a fighter in the UFC and PRIDE, an old MMA company that operated in Tokyo. It also follows the same structure as a documentary about Kerr that shares the same name as this movie. We’re hopping around in time a little bit, and for the most part, it’s shot like a documentary crew is filming him. Make no mistake here, in terms of direction: The Smashing Machine is unlike anything Johnson has been a part of since maybe Pain & Gain. In terms of other performers here, Emily Blunt plays his then-girlfriend, Dawn. The movie is at its best when the two of them are on screen. It really does feel like Johnson is taking a risk here, with Blunt and director Safdie going “You got this, man.” So, I’ll give credit where credit is due: Dwayne Johnson is the reason to see the movie. In a lot of aspects, he’s the shining star of the movie, and there’s a good chance that The Smashing Machine isn’t the same without him. The only problem I have with the film is the documentary-like structure. I appreciate the slice-of-life approach here, as if we’re seeing Kerr’s life as it's happening, but it loses just a little of that emotional left hook that I was waiting for. That doesn’t take away from what I do like about The Smashing Machine, though. I’m very excited to see that Johnson and Safdie are working on another movie together, and I’m glad that such a huge star like Johnson took a risk. Added bonus that the movie is just really good too.


Ryan’s Grade: A-