Sports movies, while not as common as they used to be, remain a hallmark of American cinema. From Rudy to Field of Dreams, and even the silly ones like Caddyshack, they’ve always had a place in the zeitgeist. While films about the UFC and mixed martial arts do exist, they haven’t quite hit the same popularity as stories about baseball, football, or others. The Smashing Machine attempts to dramatizie the life of Mark Kerr, a pioneer in the sport, and the rise of MMA itself, and was also supposed to be a vehicle to show off the “real” acting chops of Dwayne Johnson. Unfortunately, while Johnson proves he can handle drama, neither he nor the film are all that impressive.
Mike Kerr (Dwayne Johnson) has never lost a fight, and he has no plans to do so now. Turning his career to battle in the newly founded MMA tournaments, he finally meets his match in Japan and suffers his first defeat – at least professionally. His home life is failing miserably as his opioid addiction is becoming worse, and his toxic girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt) blames and hates him for it but also relishes the ability to have power over him by being his caretaker. A medical emergency shakes him back to reality and puts him on the path to hopefully rebuild his reputation and get back to winning both in the ring and in life.
The riches-to-rags-to-riches story is nothing new. Half of the movies out there probably wouldn’t exist without this trope, and The Smashing Machine really doesn’t do anything new with it. Which isn’t to say it should since this is the biography of the real Mike Kerr, and while creative licenses are always applied, staying true to history is better in cases such as these. The issue comes with the fact that not only does it follow a predictable plot beat by beat, it doesn’t even try to do anything exciting to draw the viewer in. Sure, there are some fights which they wisely ensure not to make the center of the story, but even they are boring and repetitive.
So, what’s the point of this entire thing? Apparently to … showcase Johnson’s acting talent?
I actually really enjoy his work. Even if it’s silly, over-the-top, and campy, his roles are generally well-acted and fun to watch. He has excellent comic and action timing, and that is a skill that many actors will never realize. But the goal here is to show that he can be “serious,” and handle drama just as well. And he can, to a point. His performance is perfectly passable, and one of the best of his career, but when he’s just so good in something like the Fast and Furious films and especially Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, is more necessary? It is to him, apparently, and while it didn’t blow me away, I will say fair play to him for trying something new.
Emily Blunt, however, is in peak form. I didn’t even realize it was her for the first half hour or so as she fully embodies every iota of her character and disappears into them. But then we would except nothing less from such an S-tier actor, and she proves that she deserves to be held up as the best of the best.
A classic line from Jurassic Park said, “they were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should,” and that sums up my thoughts about The Smashing Machine. With this huge focus on proving that Dwayne Johnson could be dramatic, they never wondered if picking him was right for the role or the movie even though he had the size and muscles for it. It’s a gimmick, and it doesn’t work to carry the whole thing which makes you walk out wondering who it was for. Sure, MMA fans might be interested in the roots of the sport, but that’s about it. In the end, it’s boring, trite, and tells an uninteresting story. Maybe it could have been an awards contender with a different cast and crew, but I’m not sure of any path a creative team could have taken with what they did have to make it enjoyable, let alone any good.