The Smashing Machine (2025)
Not the smashing you expected.
Presentation:
After his acting stint, Benny Safdie returns with a solo debut to directing. The film is hyped for eliciting Dwayne “The Rock”Johnson’s best acting performance of all time. And it is, but it’s nothing revolutionary. The film utilizes both 16mm and IMAX, which was not distracting as it was implemented sparingly, to the point where I wonder what was even the point? The film follows Mark Kerr, an early UFC MMA pioneer. If you go into this film expecting a sports biopic, you will be disappointed especially because the fighting looks just as scripted as WWE. If you go into it for Safdie’s style then you could come out happy. The film is shot like a Safdies film, long handheld takes with long lenses organically following the drama. It’s quite immersively shot, peeking through doors and behind walls as if we are eavesdropping. It’s not nearly as chaotic as Uncut Gems but does somewhat resemble their characteristic downward struggle. It’s more like The Curse, where he gives us the opposite of what we expect. I was skeptical, but Emily Blunt totally stole the show as a glitzy housewife.
Analysis:
It was an unorthodox choice to follow Kerr’s journey rather than Coleman’s. I believe Benny chose this less satisfying arc as a metaphor for his departure from Josh. The duo have pursued solo careers and now inadvertently compete with each other with toxic audiences already comparing who is the more talented brother. I guess I’m even more excited for Marty Supreme now. Obviously no one but them can know if their split was because of creative differences or pride. This is a lot of conjecture, but as Benny stole the spotlight from acting roles while Josh may have been the greater creative contributor, this sort of feels like an olive branch to his brother, that you can still be happy for the other’s success.
Conclusion:
This film is not as it seems, it is like an anti sports biopic. It is nothing like typical sports movies, which is the same reason you will either hate or love this. I loved it because it was refreshingly unlike the dozens of other sports docudramas I’ve seen. The drama felt so real and I really like the mood piece vibes of the jazzy soundtrack. The problem is the true material is not actually that interesting and we end up following the shadow of the typical story, which actually reminds me of Blade Runner 2049. But be warned that most will be disappointed because this is more drama than sports film, extremely similar to Fat City. So why did I like the left turn here more than in Sinners or 28 Years Later? I don’t have an objective reason this time other than the sentiment spoke to me personally, something creatives rather than hardcore MMA fans should appreciate more.
Recommendations
Thematic literature enters the ring.