At the tail end of 2019, brothers Josh and Benny Safdie’s thriller “Uncut Gems” was met with massive critical acclaim. For many moviegoers, this might have come as a surprise, as the lead role was played by none other than Adam Sandler. While his career has been long and lucrative, he has rarely appeared in films that could be considered even halfway serious. When the Safdies’ movie forced Sandler to deviate from his funnyman ways, he showed true brilliance as its untethered star. Much like Jim Carrey’s forays into drama roles like “Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind” or “The Truman Show,” Sandler proved that he could deliver a truly impressive performance when the film demands one.
When trailers were released for Benny Safdie’s 2025 film “The Smashing Machine,” audiences once again might have been taken aback when they noticed Dwayne Johnson in the lead role. The film’s rollout begged the question: could Safdie once again transform a successful typecast actor into a renewed, unrecognizable talent?
In “The Smashing Machine,” a biopic about the former MMA fighter Mark Kerr, the answer to this question is inconclusive. Johnson is, at best, adequate in his role as Mark, and at worst, hollow. The film throws emotional punches that do not land, as Johnson has a seeming inability to embody anyone but himself.
Physically, he is believable. An imposing, muscular presence that earns the film’s title, but appearances only go so far. This is not a typical rags-to-riches sports movie in which the underdog miraculously triumphs at the end (though it does indeed contain a training montage). This movie is meant to be more than that. It strives to show the vulnerable human being behind the fighter in the cage.
While this is admirable, the emotion that attempts to seep its way into the film falls flat. After an opponent of Mark’s uses an illegal move against him, the fight is ruled as no-contest. Mark interprets this instead as a flat-out loss, which until this point he thought of as an impossibility. This sends him spiraling. In his post-fight tribulations, he battles an opioid addiction that sends him to rehab, and his relationship with his girlfriend Dawn (played by Emily Blunt) is tumultuous. These moments that should provide the film with emotional weight both fail to do so. Mark’s rehab stint is too sudden and brief to be believable, and Blunt’s character, despite a strong performance, is criminally underwritten, causing the relationship strain to feel entirely contrived. It is as though Dawn exists solely to aggravate Mark, with no more depth than that.
The responsibility for these flaws fall on both Safdie and Johnson. Safdie’s writing in this film is rather shallow, causing its intentions to feel constantly at arm’s length. Safdie’s source material for this film is a 2002 documentary of the same name, but rather than reimagining it for a feature film, it feels more like a beat-for-beat retelling. Much of the acting comes off as wooden—especially from Johnson. His range in the film is limited. There are moments that Mark shows quiet solicitude, exposing the gentle giant behind the fighter, but the only other Mark we see is the polar opposite: enraged and hulk-like, yelling at Dawn and breaking down doors at will. There is no in between. Simply put, to portray a complex character, you must have the ability to show more than two sides of him.
This film is a true shame, because there are parts of it that show potential. Safdie’s camerawork is as good as ever. He employs the signature close-ups present in “Uncut Gems” or the brothers’ earlier “Good Time,” giving the film an anxious, claustrophobic feel. The constant free-jazz score gives the film a foreboding, eerie feel. Unfortunately, though, its stylistic virtuosity is not enough to make the film work. Casting Dwayne Johnson in a serious film was a risk, and in this case, it was a risk not worth taking.