MOVIE REVIEW: The Smashing Machine ~ FILMYWAPAS

Images by Eric Zachanowich, Ken Harima, and Cheryl Dunn for A24

THE SMASHING MACHINE—4 STARS

While combat sports have risen to become more popular and respected than they were two decades ago at their infancy, there remains a section of the public that views them with disregard. They see the proverbial blood, sweat, and tears, and assume the worst and ugliest. To them, the spilling of blood is barbaric, and the sweat dripping off the muscular bodies swinging their fists and kicks could only come by way of illegitimate performance-enhancing means. With those ignominies held hard, the part those doubters buy the least is the tears, and that’s where they’re missing the bigger picture. The Smashing Machine focuses on a story that breaks away from most of those stigmas to explore the very significant veins, sweat glands, and, most importantly, tear ducts that saturate the warrior souls of combat sports.

Written and directed by Benny Safide (Uncut Gems), recipient of the Silver Lion directing awards at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, The Smashing Machine opens in 1997 to recreate the mixed martial arts debut of former NCAA freestyle wrestling champion and World Cup gold medalist Mark Kerr. Played by box office titan and hall of fame professional wrestler Dwayne Johnson, Kerr casts an imposing shadow coming out the curtain to a billed height and weight of 6’ 3” and 255 pounds. This man did not skip leg day, and his shoulder definition alone looks like it should be painted green and coming from a raging and roaring superhero. At this World Vale Tudo Championship event, Mark defeats Paul Varelans in under two minutes with an offense of wrestling takedowns paired with smothering ground-and-pound strikes on the mat (a term Kerr famously coined for posterity).

Up-and-coming cinematographer Maceo Bishop sets the kinetic stage of how his camera is prepared to bob and weave around the ropes and corners of the ring to capture this match, and more to come, in a collection of angles and perspectives stitched together by Safide himself at the editing station. Other than working up a momentary sweat, Dwayne Johnson, masked by superb prosthetic makeup effects by two-time Academy Award-winning artist Kazu Hiro (Darkest Hour, Bombshell), looks unscathed compared to his opponent and beams from ear to ear in the glow of victory. After his hand is raised, his main squeeze, Dawn Staples, played by Johnson’s Jungle Cruise co-star Emily Blunt, joins in the celebration amid a flicker of occasional flashbulbs and arena lights. It’s an impressive and showy athletic win to witness.

LESSON #1: HEAR THE MAN BEHIND THE MUSCLES— Be that as it may, it’s not pulse-quickening action between the ropes during this introductory scene that catches your attention and establishes the tone for The Smashing Machine. It’s Johnson’s voiceover. Played over the entire fight, Kerr is heard discussing with an interviewer his approach, mindset, and goals going into his fights. Raising his voice a slight octave and utilizing a flowery speech pattern, Dwayne Johnson reveals a calculated and fascinating individual driven towards the benefits of a growth mindset. He speaks with almost soothing candor, far from the hot-and-bothered attitudes hellbent on destruction that people most associate with MMA fighters. This type of timbre, perfectly executed by Johnson, is a stark departure from his usual growling and gregarious self seen in tough guy movie roles or dropping cocky promos with a WWE microphone for a captivated live audience.

We learn, right from the start of The Smashing Machine, that even though this film follows many of the tried-and-true steps of the sports movie formula, the narrative is calibrated to explore a different degree of existence within this pugilistic setting. It’s still going to prepare us, and maybe even hype us closer to a true frenzy, for some kind of main event finale, but it’s going to do so—like the main character—with tests of patience and reserve.

Based on the 2002 HBO documentary of the same name, The Smashing Machine spends most of its runtime chronicling a life outside of the ropes or cages. Mark and Dawn call Arizona home as he tries to break into a sport that is just starting to become well-attended and lucrative. Skipping ahead to 1999, Mark and his good friend and training partner, Mark Coleman (played by retired Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader), find more opportunities and paychecks in Japan fighting for the Pride Fighting Championships promotion. Through these months and years, Mark is locked on fight preparation and discipline, which doesn’t mesh with the superficial revelry Dawn enjoys, causing strain and conflict in their relationship that ranges from trivial and crucial.

LESSON #2: CONTROLLING EMOTIONS, FEARS, AND ANXIETIES— Spoken from the main character’s own mouth, this lesson title is the chief pillar of Mark Kerr. For many regular 9-to-5 people, this is a tough task. Try it as a person who spends the peak of their time punching someone or getting punched themselves. Let’s see you tame your emotions then. Mark seeks a focus that is even-keeled and within his control as he seeks the highest of highs in becoming a winner. Mark Coleman and fellow trainer, Bas Rutten (playing himself), know how to feed that requirement. What doesn’t nourish it and drops him into an undesirable void are Dawn and a growing addiction to narcotic painkillers. How Emily Blunt twists and massages her increasingly questionable and negative influence is a performative treat across from Johnson, as both play “all about you” blamers.

When the undefeated Mark Kerr finally loses, 40 minutes into the movie, in a knockout loss to Igor Vovchanchyn, which was later overturned to be a “no contest” due to illegal strikes, there’s a tone shift in The Smashing Machine from the positive self-talk and optimism voiced at the beginning. The score from ambient jazz virtuoso Nala Sinephro pulsates to a new, unnerving pitch, almost like the ringing of a concussion. When it does, you anticipate an imminent eruption of sour personality from Mark. You search for the cracks of composure, especially when those aforementioned and doubted tears arrive. Blunt waits for it too—the trainwreck breaking point and resulting downward spiral. The movie teases—forgive the pun—rock bottom, but not yet.

LESSON #3: RUMINATION OVER RAGE— Right when most movies would explode, The Smashing Machine holds off. Mark Kerr takes his off-screen trip to rehab and comes out an even more resolute man than before. Meditation replaces mayhem, and rumination washes over rage, and that goes for Coleman and the other fighters shown of this Aughts era. No one ever looks like a savage. Instead, they look like determined competitors with respect for the work and each other. Because of that slant, The Smashing Machine pokes at a next level of profundity without achieving a full wringer and catharsis to really overwhelm you.

While the swells and “big fight feel” (which aren’t worth the extra IMAX upcharge in the picture and sound department) never completely wash you over with Mark Kerr becoming the background figure to Mark Coleman’s eventual triumph (opening Bader to more effort as an actor) in The Smashing Machine, this heavy saga lives and dies with the enormously galvanizing performance from Dwayne Johnson. Look how far “The Rock” has come in the nearly quarter-century since his theatrical debut in 2001’s The Mummy Returns. Sure, the mountain of a man was ideal to handle the physical demands of this role, but credit is still due his way for getting in the ring—north of 50 years old—-and performing the rigorous work for MMA coordinator James Moontasri and fight coordinator Kirk A. Jenkins.

Still, how many times have we written Dwayne Johnson off? How many times have folks rolled their eyes at another beefy piece of blockbuster cheese with his name at the top of the poster? Well, those days are hopefully over. A corner has been turned with The Smashing Machine, and the trust granted to him by Benny Safide to make this character piece and hoist his talent to a higher plane.