The hype surrounding "The Smashing Machine" has been astronomical, and for good reason. It's Benny Safy's first solo directorial effort after working with his brother Josh on acclaimed hits like "Good Time" and "Uncut Gems." And it marks Dwayne Johnson's big Oscar vehicle, the box office giant's first attempt at a truly serious role.
To get into the headspace of former UFC fighter Mark Kerr, Johnson has transformed and often spoke about how tapping into this role brought him to a vulnerable state he hasn't yet explored in his career. The big question out of the film’s Venice premiere was, does it all work? The answer is no.
As a sports biopic, "The Smashing Machine" is unconventional in some ways. It opts not for an expansive look at Kerr’s entire life but focuses instead on the three years from 1997 to 2000, where addiction almost ruined Kerr's life and the fighter had an overseas gig in a Japanese league called Pride. However, Safy, who also wrote the script, can't help but fall into some of the genre's trappings with training montages and more used to middling effect.
To his credit, Johnson's performance is absolutely fine, though it certainly is not revolutionary. The idea of casting the world's most famous wrestler-turned-actor in the role of Kerr is arguably more fascinating than the performance or the film itself. That said, it is Johnson's best role to date, giving the actor a chance to bite into meaty material that he has otherwise avoided throughout most of his career.
Blunt is in the role of the thankless, underdeveloped love interest, but she truly shines as Dawn, Kerr’s eventual wife. In one of the film's domestic fight scenes, Dawn shouts at Mark that he doesn't know her. We don't really know her either, at least not on any sort of intimate level beyond her relationship with the star of the show. Still, Blunt imbues Dawn with a sense of humanity that makes her stand out, flaws and all.
Safy's direction adds a layer of intimacy that his script does not. It certainly evokes past collaborations with his brother, but there's a stagnancy to the camera that gives "The Smashing Machine" an overall lack of energy even during its most brutal moments. This all builds to an anticlimactic conclusion that, while presumably true to real events, nonetheless feels underwhelming.
It's not that "The Smashing Machine" is even bad; it's just that it falls so short of its potential and has a startling lack of energy for a film about men beating each other senseless. Its best moments aren't in the octagon; they're in the quiet moments when Johnson's Kerr is talking to an interviewer backstage or when Dawn and Mark are exchanging barbs in between affections in their cozy Arizona home.
The best sports biopics are about overcoming near-insurmountable odds, and Kerr certainly did that time and time again. Johnson, too, has done the same, transitioning from a wrestling star to a serious actor. But it's clear that to go further, he may need better material to transcend. At the end of the day, "The Smashing Machine" still reverts to familiarity rather than pushing the needle. It's clear that everyone involved can do better.