When most people think of former wrestling superstar Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s career as an actor, they may imagine him as a large, tough bald man deep in the jungle who delivers witty one-liners and fights giant animals or as a hypermasculine fairytale character . This character Johnson was repeatedly typecast as is not at all present in Benny Safdie’s ‘The Smashing Machine,’ which premiered on October 1.
The film is a biopic of real-life Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Mark Kerr, who Johnson portrays, using heavy cosmetic attachments to alter his appearance. The viewer follows Kerr and others, such as his girlfriend and longtime training partner, throughout the film, with a focus on Kerr’s battle with opioid addiction.
When the film begins, Mark Kerr is an internally fragile, yet externally tough man. On the outside, he is a macho, bare-knuckled boxer, who frequently wins his bouts; however, on the inside, he is a drug-addicted man.
In the film, Mark gets high on opioids to help him feel less pain in his matches, which have an incredibly negative impact on his emotions. He detaches from these emotions during his fights with his girlfriend, Dawn. These fights later turn physical when Mark uses his inhuman strength to tear apart doors and furniture in the house.
Mark’s treatment of Dawn in the first act of the film is indicative of the kind of man he was at the time. He frequently scolds her for stupid reasons and rebuffs her when she tries to support him in his endeavours.
Mark’s internal conflict occurs simultaneously with his external conflicts in the ring. He travels to fights around the world, but most frequently to Tokyo, Japan. This is where his first major bout of the movie occurs against Ukrainian boxer Igor Vovchanchyn, who defeats Mark using an illegal move. When Mark confronts fighting officials about the incident, he is told that the only penalization Igor will receive is a demotion from the title of winner of the event to co-winner, which he will share with Mark. Publicly, Mark tells the officials that the punishment is acceptable, but retreats to the locker room alone, where he breaks down, crying in sadness.
Back home, Mark’s relationship with Dawn further deteriorates, as he overdoses on opioids and nearly dies. Mark’s friend and coach, Mark Coleman, convinces him to go to rehab. After his discharge from rehab, Kerr again fights with Dawn, who ultimately leaves him.
Mark then moves to Los Angeles to train with wrestling coach Bas Rutten, who whips him back into shape and helps him to win his first fight after leaving rehab. Mark later reconciles with Dawn, before–surprise surprise–breaking up with her again.
This time, however, the breakup is so emotionally destructive that Dawn attempts suicide, which Mark quickly stops from happening. This all happens the night before Mark’s next scheduled fight in Japan, in which he is brutally defeated, while memories of Dawn, his previous fights, his overdose and everything in between play out in his head.
This time, though, Mark does not let his loss defeat him mentally. Upon his lonesome return to the locker room, he takes a shower and laughs to himself.
It is at this point in the film that there is an epilogue, and the film jumps 25 years into present day in 2025, where the viewer watches a video clip of the real Mark Kerr picking up his groceries and waving at the camera. This is followed by postscripts detailing the outcomes of all of the individuals depicted in the film. This part of the movie is filled with all sorts of emotions, as the audience realizes that this is a real story, with real emotional impact.
The film’s emotional impact is not only present at the end. Throughout, the film is shot in a way that makes the viewer feel present in the same room as the characters, through the exclusive use of handheld cameras which mimic the feeling of watching something unfold in front of one’s eyes.
This is all enhanced by the film’s incredible visual interest. A period piece, it is set between the years 1999 and 2000. This is particularly evident in the scenes set in late1990s-early-2000s Tokyo, where the sets are built on an extravagant scale that vividly replicate the time period. Furthermore, every vehicle is era-accurate, all cell phones are flip phones, and certain sequences are shot with VHS cameras.
The otherworldly soundtrack of the film is like no other. Featuring music by Elvis Presley, the Cleaners from Venus, Melanie, Rod Stewart and a score by Nala Sinephro, the auditory soundscapes that come from this movie are nothing short of beautiful. Whether it is an emotionally-wounded Mark Kerr running up a flight of outdoor stairs in a scene that pays homage to Rocky, or an emotionally-healed Mark Kerr laughing to himself in a locker room shower, the music always fits the scene.
With movie critics, the film’s reception has been mixed. Overall, the movie has been well received. On Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of critic’s reviews are positive, while 76% of audience reviews are positive, but this does not change the fact that the film has only grossed $13 million against a $50 million dollar budget.
A likely reason for this is that Johnson is not portraying his aforementioned smoldering, bald-man archetype. Audiences are so used to “The Rock” playing this character that when they saw he was going to star in a serious sports biopic, they may have been uninterested. This is an example of a growing trend in the film industry in which audiences are more willing to watch billion dollar blockbusters with no real heart and great escapism than a movie that has a deeper meaning.
For example, “The Smashing Machine” has done poorly, while films such as “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” “Fantastic 4: First Steps,” “Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning” and “F1,” all recent films with weaker writing but great production value and action scenes, have generated revenue multiple times higher than their initial budget.
Overall, the film is an emotional rollercoaster with a gut-punching, bittersweet ending that leaves the viewer thinking about the story days after they see it. Is it sort of predictable, as a boxing biopic? Sure, but it is a real story and real life has the potential to be predictable sometimes. However, its rare predictability does not take away from the emotional impact of the film at all. Four out of four stars.
