SMASHING MACHINE

HEROIC CHARACTER TRANSFORMS INTO COMPLICATED DRAMATIC ROLE

by PETER THOMAS BUSCH

The biggest actor in Hollywood has to be Dwayne Johnson weighing in at 6 ft 3 in (6 ft 5 in) and 255 pounds as professional wrestler Mark Kerr.

Johnson stars in the biopic The Smashing Machine (2025) about the origin of MMA or UFC or the start of wrestlers fighting boxers who also fight jiu jitsu artists, and then every discipline gets all mixed up into a new sport.

Director Benny Safdie encapsulates plenty of fight scenes into the storyboard, at least those 20 seconds or so of a victory in the ring, to drive the narrative forward.

And then Safdie uses Kerr’s relationship with Dawn to drive a second narrative in the background. Emily Blunt costars as Kerr’s love interest, Dawn Staples. The camera brings the love relationship closer and closer to the main narrative as the plot reaches the reversal scenes.

Blunt creates a complicated character that lacks emotional control and self awareness. Dawn enters a relationship with Kerr supporting his passion for professional wrestling, but who then finds something lacking in the connection.

The training sequences are kept to a minimum. And the pace of the film is slowed down for intimate moments at home with Dawn trying to contribute to Mark’s sports career as much as possible, such as by making protein smoothies and helping out during a pre-training stretching session.

Blunt does show Dawn as wanting a bit more attention, though, which leads to emotional chaos as those involved try to sort out priorities.

The story is filmed like a vlog giving each scene that self made documentary grittiness as Johnson moves from the locker room to the ring to the living room as if his best friend is following him around on set with a home movie camera.

A jazz score slows down the narrative and blurs the reality of a fighter preparing for the next match. These introspective moments depict Kerr struggling with the physical pain and a simple life that is getting more complicated with the emotional involvement of other people. And then popular songs pick up the pace on the way to another wrestling match.

The singular focus of Mark on his professional sports career causes Dawn to want more. Everything gets even more confused for both of them when Mark becomes addicted to the pain medication he uses to recover from the brutally violent clashes in the ring with other equally determined fighters.

The nickel and dime professional wrestling circuit quickly transitions to the bigger paydays of Mixed Martial Arts, at the same time the love interest creeps toward a do or die proposition.

Johnson creates a three dimensional character that drives the entire film while Blunt interacts in a supporting role just enough to bring that complicated character out. Dawn is there for Mark but the two characters together often make for intimate scenes of emotional trauma, when the camera slows down and everything focusses on the dialogue.

Kerr is portrayed as a soft spoken singularly focusses professional athlete, still struggling to attain the pinnacle of success he so desires. But the gentle giant’s ability to sweet talk his way through certain moral dilemmas hints at someone else hiding inside who randomly comes to the fore when he does not get his way.

There is enough of a love story there though to keep everything interesting until the end credits. You wait for the next fight scenes until you start wanting to know what the next stage of the love relationship is.

In this way, the plot incrementally spins inside and out.

Johnson wears a partial facial prosthetic that masks his regular heroic screen character while he has also developed this softer spoken more vulnerable persona, in a dramatic role. The actor suppresses the vitriol and bravado filled character, such as the frantic military veteran running security in Skyscraper (2018) or the whimsical tour boat captain in the Jungle Cruise (2021).

Blunt crushes the character in portraying Dawn as having a silent, inner complication, while presenting outwardly as a shallow persona who means well but just cannot keep focussed on attaining the best results from the most important moments in life with Mark.

In all fairness to Dawn, Mark is not the most impassioned lover, and he also cannot regulate his emotions on the days when love enters his thoughts.