The Smashing Machine Review

 

Alright Dwayne The Rock Johnson will finally be doing an acting role that isn't him being a slightly different version of himself. Hopefully he pulled it off.

The Smashing Machine is a biographical sports drama movie based on the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr. A24 not only distributed by also produced with Out for the Count, Seven Bucks Productions, and Magnetic Fields Entertainment. The movie is directed and written by Benny Safdie.

The story is, Mark Kerr is a gifted MMA fighter and he's quickly rising to fame and fortune. But this path isn't painted in gold. Along the way he faces relationship strains and addiction. He'll soon learn personal struggles are way more challenging than fight in the octagon.

Initial Reaction

Now I didn't have this movie listed on my Most Anticipated list, primarily cause I didn't hear about until the like a month or two ago. But when I finally did hear about it I was curious. Cause even though I wasn't one of those people who'd complain about The Rock basically playing himself, I was curious about him playing a very different role. Something I don't think he's done since, and I could be wrong, but I don't think he's done that since Pain & Gain back in 2013.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The only gray area was the story. First let's get into all of the good stuff. Now I've heard a lot of people be disappointed over the fact there wasn't a lot of fights and it was more about Mark's relationship struggles. Now for me that wasn't a huge disappointment because I've seen those kinds of movies before. And what I'm referring to is Darren Aronofsky's 2008 film The Wrestler and Martin Scorsese's 1980 film Raging Bull. Those were more about relationships than matches so when I saw this this was more or less familiar territory for me. So I was actually intrepid in seeing Mark Kerr's struggle with him facing his very first, his partying, his addictions, and his very toxic relationship with his girlfriend. However, some of these story pieces feel more clumped together then the pieces fitting perfectly. Those scenes did need just one more thread that would've made those moments feel more put together.

Pros

Alright let's get into the truly good stuff. Like the cinematography. Maceo Bishop did a tremendous job. He blended grainy VHS, 16mm, and 65mm so perfectly, it almost had a documentary feel to it. Which makes sense given the movie was inspired by the documentary. But even when we don't have that going on, his cinematography doesn't have that nice polish that most sports film have, his style is more gritty and the aesthetic is much more raw. Especially since Bishop relied more on natural and practical lighting. Then there's Benny Safdie's directing. He only focuses on the more personal stuff. So throughout the movie we're experiencing a more compassionate lens much than a more triumphant journey. So much like I've praised Afronosky showing Randy The Ram preferring the wrestling ring then real life and Scorsese showing Jake LaMotta's fall, I also want to praise Safdie showing Mark Kerr's struggles even if I was slightly critical on the story. Okay, now for the big one. The one thing everybody and their grandmother has been curious about. Dwayne The Rock Johnson's performance. I gotta say I was having faith in the guy and he did a phenomenal job. He stripped away his more blockbuster charisma for a far more vulnerable and anger man. I don't think Johnson is gonna get any Oscars despite how cool that'd be, but I do see people praising him for stepping out of his usual wheelhouse and branch out to something else. Now next year he'll be going back to a more charisma blockbuster personality next year with the live-action remake of Moana (a remake to this day I don't understand why Disney is doing, but yet again I don't understand a lot of that companies decisions), but hopefully when that's said and done Dwayne will continue to branch out more.

So yeah, while the story might have some issues, The Smashing Machine is definitely worth checking out.

My final rating is, Great.

So that's all for now. Due come back on Monday, Oct 6th, for my review of the newest horror movie, Good Boy. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.