The Smashing Machine: A Faithful Adaptation of a Painfully Human Story

By Fionn Murray

In November 2019, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was greeted with murmurs and smatterings of light
clapping from the Madison Square Garden crowd when he first announced his plans to play former
MMA fighter Mark Kerr. It was clear the audience were not familiar with the man known as “The
Smashing Machine.”

Despite being delayed by a pandemic, a writer’s strike, and an actor’s strike, the quality of the
resulting film will ensure that Kerr’s name is known to more than just hardcore mixed martial arts
fans for years to come.

Directed by Benny Safdie and produced by A24, The Smashing Machine was released in Ireland on
Friday 3 October. It stars Johnson as Kerr, a dominant yet troubled pioneer of MMA, and Emily Blunt
as Dawn Staples, Kerr’s girlfriend.

Their performances are sensational. Oscar calls for the two leads are not premature.

Blunt brings a subtlety to her performance that makes believable all the complexities and
contradictions of her character. She flawlessly shifts throughout, in turn playing the audience proxy,
the emotional centre, and a bringer of chaos.

Johnson is almost completely lost in his portrayal of Mark Kerr. This is in part because of prosthetics,
but mostly due to an emotional depth and range in his acting that had, quite frankly, never been
seen before.

Johnson has long been ridiculed as an actor who just played versions of himself (see: Jumanji,
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Baywatch, Rampage, Jungle Cruise), but this role stands as a stark
counterpoint. While his accent work might come and go, Johnson remains firmly grounded in the
compelling and heartbreaking reality of Kerr’s story from start to finish.

It also cannot be overstated how seamlessly Johnson, a 53-year-old, convincingly embodies the
physicality of a man in his late twenties. It is surprisingly easy to forget you are watching a film
starring “The Rock,” a testament to the immense work done by all involved.

The Smashing Machine is based on a 2002 documentary of the same name, which covered Kerr’s
fighting career from 1997-2000 as MMA was slowly building in popularity.

Fans of the documentary will appreciate the obvious care with which Safdie and his team have
adapted it for the big screen. Quotes, events, and appearances are identical to reality. Fights play
out with shot-for-shot accuracy. Netflix and Amazon showrunners should take notes.

This care can be seen throughout every aspect of the film, with the cinematography, sound design,
and score coming together to build a remarkable recreation of the pageantry of MMA’s infancy. It’s
refreshing to see the unique spectacle of Japan’s Pride Fighting Championship in an era pre-dating
the corporate monotony of the UFC monopoly.

A decision that often faces directors of sports biopics is whether to teach actors a sport or to teach
athletes to act. Safdie opts for the latter with The Smashing Machine’s supporting cast, bringing in
some (literal) heavy hitters from the combat sports world.

Former Bellator champion Ryan Bader stars as MMA legend Mark Coleman, Ukrainian enigma Igor
Vovchanchyn is played by fellow Ukrainian enigma Oleksandr Usyk, likely the best active boxer in the
world, and Bas Rutten, Kerr’s former coach, plays himself (twenty-five years after the real events
occurred). Aside from one or two moments of inexperience, they all do an impressive job.

The Smashing Machine is for MMA fans and the uninitiated alike. The plot does delve into the mixed
martial arts world in nitty-gritty detail, but it never detaches itself from the universal story of
struggle at its heart. Dwayne Johnson’s transformation alone is worth seeing. With this movie, he
has completely shattered the general consensus of his abilities as an actor.

★★★★☆

This article was a collaboration with IMC Galway.