The Smashing Machine

Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine has been one of my most anticipated titles all year, and I cannot really explain why. I have never personally been a fan of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, nor am I into wrestling. While I have quite enjoyed the Safdie brothers’ electric Good Time and chaotic Uncut Gems, I still have not checked out Benny’s solo work—though The Curse looks right up my alley. However, that initial trailer and the promotional image of The Rock in the ring for The Smashing Machine immediately grabbed my attention. Since then, I have been counting down the days until I could see A24’s newest flick.

Does it deliver? Well, Dwayne Johnson gives the finest performance of his career. Benny Safdie 100% deserved that Venice Best Director prize. The cinematography in this film is gorgeous. And though I typically have issues with how sports films capture action, this one does a phenomenal job of showcasing fighting in its rawest, most authentic form. Unfortunately, this film is dragged down by a horrendous screenplay that has no real idea of what it wants to say or do with its characters and a baffling conclusion to a story that was just starting to win me over.

The biggest selling point of The Smashing Machine is, of course, Dwayne Johnson’s foray into dramatic acting. We’ve seen Johnson light the wrestling world on fire in his WWE days. We’ve seen him dominate the box office with some of the biggest action spectacles of the last decade. Personally, I quite enjoy his comedic roles in buddy comedies and large ensemble pieces. But here, in The Smashing Machine, we’re seeing a version of Johnson we’ve never really seen before. He is a lot more mellow, chilled out, and soft-spoken, but he still carries that signature Rock charisma that audiences adore him for. Is this the role that wins him an Oscar or silences all his skeptics? Probably not. But I do believe he gives it his all in portraying boxing legend Mark Kerr.

While on the subject of Johnson’s transformation into Mark Kerr, I have to shout out Kazu Hiro’s makeup and prosthetic work. It continues to prove why Hiro is one of the best in the industry. He makes Johnson completely unrecognizable for most of the runtime. Hiro’s work doesn’t just stop with Johnson—this is a wrestling movie at the end of the day—and all the beatdowns in the ring (the bruises, scars, blood, swelling) look incredibly natural and real. During those boxing moments, it honestly feels like we’re witnessing hand-to-hand combat with impractical blows at every corner of the ring firsthand, and that is heavily aided by Hiro’s prosthetic team.

Another reason those fight sequences feel so lifelike is because of Benny Safdie’s direction… especially in the way the film is shot. From the opening moments, The Smashing Machine feels like a documentary. The camera zips and zooms in and out, is handheld nearly the entire time, and has this throwback, film-grain aesthetic that adds real texture and energy to the story.
And when we’re in the ring, Safdie overcomes one of my biggest pet peeves with sports films: not knowing how to shoot the actual sport they’re centered on. But here, Safdie nails it. The fights feel raw, visceral, and grounded.

However, while I adore Safdie’s direction and the visual style he’s crafted for The Smashing Machine, I sadly can’t really say the same for the film's editing style or the underwhelming screenplay. Though it boasts just a two-hour runtime, the film feels oddly aimless and confused as to what it wants to say, focus on, or explore throughout.

The first 20 minutes set up a compelling arc, tone, and visual language, but then the film takes a hard left turn. The pace slows down significantly, and the focus shifts almost entirely to Kerr’s addiction. That’s fine… until that plotline is resolved and suddenly never becomes a real factor again. From there, we pivot to relationship troubles, and then finally, we arrive at our big climactic fight.
I am sure there was a great idea at the core of The Smashing Machine and I can definitely see glimpses of greatness, but the final product doesn’t fully reflect what was likely pitched in the initial meetings and comes up shy of its goals. As strong as Johnson is in the role, as fantastic as the makeup and prosthetics are, and as captivating as the direction is, I still walked away feeling a little underwhelmed. The movie left me without much to talk about by the end.

That said, I want to give one more shoutout, as Emily Blunt is fantastic in this film. Her character is one that I think a lot of people might come away from not liking, not rooting for, or even finding annoying, but I think Blunt brings this character to another level. If a lesser actor had played her, the role easily could’ve fallen flat or felt grating. But Blunt brings such nuance and strength that she might actually rival Johnson for the best performance in the movie. 

Overall, The Smashing Machine mostly delivers what it was advertised as: Johnson’s vehicle to be taken seriously as an actor and Benny Safdie’s foray back into solo filmmaking. It is held back severely by its writing, but despite the hype for other aspects of the film, its saving grace might actually be Blunt.

6/10