US EditionMovie Review: Vulnerable Dwayne Johnson Elevates 'Smashing Machine'
Dwayne Johnson portrays MMA pioneer Mark Kerr, highlighting his 1997-2000 UFC rise and struggles with addiction in a film inspired by the 2002 documentary.
- The Smashing Machine, a biopic starring Dwayne Johnson as MMA pioneer Mark Kerr, is released in theaters on Friday, October 3rd, 2025.
- The film draws on Kerr's story from 1997 to 2000, portraying his rise and fall during early UFC years and his struggles with addiction and relationships.
- Director Benny Safdie films with documentary restraint, following Kerr from fights to backstage, and casts Emily Blunt as Dawn, Kerr's girlfriend with a complex role.
- Johnson delivers a notably vulnerable performance, trading blockbuster roles for emotional depth, as the film explores Kerr's addiction, breakdowns, and path to sobriety.
- The film revisits MMA history with a character study expected to attract attention, potentially boosting Johnson's awards season prospects and wider interest in Kerr's legacy.
49 Articles
49 Articles
In the biopic "The Smashing Machine" Dwayne Johnson tries his first big Oscar role: as a martial arts pioneer wrestling with himself.
'The Smashing Machine' Feels Like A Good Cry
A24Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine has all the familiar hallmarks of Hollywood biopics, but its intensity and emotional clarity make it entirely worthwhile — to say nothing of its enrapturing and transformative lead performance. Safdie, one half of the brother duo behind gambling thriller Uncut Gems, goes solo for a film about addiction of a different sort, as wrestler-turned-action-star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson brings his long-gestating pa…
Mixed Martial Arts is a tough sport. A Hollywood movie in this metier? Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson fits like a fist in the eye. In the sports drama "The Smashing Machine" viewers get to see a completely new side of the actor.
‘The Smashing Machine’ satisfying new take on sports movies
Benny Safdie wants to challenge our expectations of the traditional sports movie. His first solo directorial outing without his brother Josh, “The Smashing Machine” is a biopic that zigs when you expect it to zag, parries rather than jabs, feints before delivering a punch. “The Smashing Machine,” about mixed martial arts fighter and UFC heavyweight champion Mark Kerr, played by an almost unrecognizable Dwayne Johnson, takes a shape and form that…
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