The Smashing Machine

Grade: D

The Smashing Machine didn’t need to exist. I don’t know why it does, except as a vehicle for awards consideration for stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. It’s hard to find much to say about it, because it left me so empty. The filmmaking style is that of the most one-note documentary or reality TV show. Imagine watching a government proceeding on C-SPAN, but you tuned in after it started, and are beginning it in the middle.

The movie tells the story of MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter Mark Kerr, and his journey in the late 90s and early 2000s. I’m sorry that this won’t be the most informative review you will see on the internet, because I got so little out of it. To say it just sits there would be an insult to things that just sit there. Writer/director Benny Safdie was behind the typewriter and the camera for Uncut Gems, and he’s been prolific as an actor these last few years, appearing in Happy Gilmore 2, Oppenheimer, Licorice Pizza, Pieces of a Woman, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Whatever he’s trying to do here with The Smashing Machine couldn’t be blander.

You can hate a movie but love a performance. As Kerr’s girlfriend Dawn, Emily Blunt gives one of the best performances of the year. This elegant British actress makes an impressive switch to a trashy, long-suffering partner. She’s pretty unrecognizable here, and I never detected a drift from her American accent. It’s hard to tell, in these situations, whether I’d be saying the same thing if it weren’t for the transformation. All I know is that she elevates the film whenever she’s onscreen, and gives it a life it never ever has otherwise.

As Mark Kerr, Dwayne Johnson fares pretty well, and tries to carry the movie, but even he can’t. The Smashing Machine is a worthless, shallow, hollow, dead in the water cinematic experience. Except for the scenes with Blunt, I felt nothing. A biopic about a wrestler is already an uphill battle with me. They managed to follow that with even less.

Grade: D