‘The Smashing Machine’ review: Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt clash in Benny Safdie’s UFC drama

Dir/scr: Benny Safdie. US. 2025. 123mins

Sports activities movies are sometimes a few character who overcomes the chances to win the large match. However Benny Safdie’s solo directorial debut is anxious with one thing extra uncommon: a fighter studying tips on how to lose. Based mostly on the lifetime of Mark Kerr, a distinguished UFC determine of the Nineteen Nineties, The Smashing Machine might not at all times transcend style conventions, however is a constantly idiosyncratic and candid have a look at a working-class athlete with an advanced romantic relationship and a crippling opioid habit. Regardless of his hulking physique, Dwayne Johnson performs Kerr with actual vulnerability as his championship aspirations slip away.

Grittier and extra intimate than is typical for the style

The Smashing Machine premieres in competitors in Venice earlier than screening in Toronto and can open within the UK and US on October 3, hoping to garner awards consideration for Johnson’s change-of-pace dramatic function. (He’s joined by his Jungle Cruise co-star Emily Blunt.) Arthouse audiences will certainly be curious to see what Safdie does on his personal after co-directing acclaimed movies corresponding to Good Time and Uncut Gems along with his brother Josh (whose personal solo effort, Timothee Chalamet comedy Marty Supreme, is due for launch in December.)

Set between 1997 and 2000, the movie introduces us to Kerr (Johnson), a former school wrestling star who’s now a part of a brand new area of interest sport often called Final Combating Championship (UFC). Kerr has by no means misplaced knowledgeable match, however the paydays are usually not profitable and he usually has to journey to Japan for tournaments. Concerned in a stormy however longterm relationship with girlfriend Daybreak (Blunt), he desires to maintain his profitable streak alive. After a controversial bout by which his opponent was not penalised for unlawful strikes, resulting in a no-contest ruling, Kerr begins spiralling, turning more and more to the opiates that assist uninteresting his bodily (and emotional) ache.

Safdie is much less considering Kerr’s matches than he’s within the fighter’s private life. A lot of the movie centres on Kerr and Daybreak, revealing how usually they carry out the worst in each other. Each characters may be self-involved, unable to listen to their companion’s perspective throughout an argument, and Safdie often lets the disagreements grow to be volcanic. Whereas the movie lacks the grand psychological depth of Raging Bull’s scenes of home drama, Kerr’s romantic woes nonetheless devour him in an image that largely avoids sports activities tropes corresponding to coaching montages and high-profile title bouts.

Equally, the movie treats Kerr’s drug habit with an unromantic matter-of-factness, sidestepping most of the typical treacley plot factors involving rehab and restoration. Johnson is very touching when portraying this outwardly macho particular person who breaks down in tears at his incapability to tug himself out of his dependency.

Throughout the UFC matches, Johnson’s former wrestling profession ensures an instantaneous authenticity, though Safdie shoots the bouts with a minimal of aptitude. These deliberately unshowy fights spotlight UFC’s lack of high-wattage glitz at this early stage in its growth, and its forgotten blue-collar individuals, whereas now the game is massively standard and its stars virtually family names. Johnson’s efficiency, enhanced by Kazu Hiro’s convincing prosthetic make-up, is appropriately stripped-down, underplaying the gregarious charisma he often exudes.

However as sturdy as Johnson’s flip is, Blunt has the extra demanding function. Daybreak is an unapologetically troublesome, usually insensitive particular person, so it falls on the actress so as to add shading to the character. The 2 leads have a tempestuous chemistry, so we perceive why Kerr and Daybreak are loopy about each other — and why they steadily drive one another loopy. Sadly, Safdie doesn’t at all times make their square-offs a good battle, often demonising Daybreak, however Blunt is firmly in her character’s nook, hinting at her personal darkish psychology.

Close to its conclusion, The Smashing Machine ultimately succumbs to a predictable storyline by which Kerr, now off opioids, should rise from the ashes and show himself within the ring. If that wasn’t acquainted sufficient, he additionally might should compete towards his greatest good friend Mark, performed by precise MMA fighter Ryan Bader. These sops to traditional filmmaking disappoint, however even right here Safdie does his greatest to craft one thing grittier and extra intimate than is typical for the style. Themes of ageing, failure and resignation drive The Smashing Machine, which is suitably modest and minor-key in line with its little-known however compelling essential character.