{"id":2009644,"date":"2025-09-09T19:33:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2009644"},"modified":"2025-09-09T19:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:33:07","slug":"dwayne-the-rock-johnson-guns-for-oscar-in-sleepy-smashing-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/dwayne-the-rock-johnson-guns-for-oscar-in-sleepy-smashing-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"Dwayne \u2018The Rock\u2019 Johnson guns for Oscar in sleepy &#8216;Smashing Machine&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F09%2F111032753.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tmovie review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tSMASHING MACHINE\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 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stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--empty\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--empty\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Running time: 123 minutes. In theaters Oct. 3.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>TORONTO \u2014 In a canyon-sized leap for Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson, the man has gone from being a professional wrestler to playing an MMA fighter.<\/p>\n<p>What a stretch! But I suppose the old chestnut \u201cwrite what you know\u201d can just as easily apply to actors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In Johnson\u2019s case: \u201cFight what you know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His performance as two-time UFC heavyweight champion Mark Kerr in \u201cThe Smashing Machine,\u201d which played Monday night at the Toronto International Film Festival, is his deepest, most nuanced and respectable work to date.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s dialed in, vulnerable, and not rattling off punchlines or hiding behind his badass exterior for once. Having been punched in the face by \u201cJungle Cruise,\u201d \u201cRed One,\u201d and \u201cJumanji: The Next Level,\u201d I didn\u2019t think he had it in him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Well, now Johnson is already in the conversation for the Oscars, which \u2014 set your watches \u2014 are still six months away.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What gets in the actor\u2019s way is that his best turn so far comes in a low-key, snoozy movie in which not all that much happens. \u201cThe Smashing Machine,\u201d which hits theaters Oct. 3, amounts to opponents circling each other in the ring aimlessly for more than two hours.<\/p>\n<p>Making mixed martial arts \u2014 described in the film as \u201cthe bloodiest and the goriest sport you\u2019ve ever seen\u201d \u2014 tame and lackluster is a challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But director Benny Safdie is up to the task.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson plays MMA fighter Mark Kerr in \u201cThe Smashing Machine.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There is a sense that Safdie, who co-directed terrific films such as \u201cUncut Gems\u201d with his brother Josh, wants to butt heads with common sports movie conventions in favor of a softer character study. Go for it, but not at the expense of an audience\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n<p>For example, when Kerr is duking it out, jazz music plays \u2014 not \u201cGonna Fly Now\u201d from \u201cRocky.\u201d A man being kneed in the head is practically soothing, and the fights (30 seconds here, a minute there) are some of the dullest sections of the film.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even personal demons are restrained. After Kerr overdoses on narcotics, which we don\u2019t see, he goes to rehab, which we also don\u2019t see.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The fights are often scored by jazz music. <span class=\"credit\">Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He returns home clean and sober to Arizona and has repetitive arguments with his spunky, not-clean-and-sober girlfriend, Dawn, played by Johnson\u2019s frequent co-star Emily Blunt. The pair\u2019s chemistry is well-honed by now, and \u201cSmashing Machine\u201d shows a different, edgier side of both.<\/p>\n<p>Too bad Dawn\u2019s underdeveloped story is a side of peas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Who Johnson connects best with, though, is Ryan Bader as his friend Mark Coleman, a fellow MMA fighter. The concern and love in Bader\u2019s eyes as he talks to Johnson\u2019s hospitalized Kerr is documentary-real. Johnson lies there crying with a blanket over his head, and you can understand why.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The bigger battles are between Kerr and his girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt). <span class=\"credit\">Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Reality, to Safdie\u2019s credit, is the director\u2019s strongest suit here. The story takes place from 1997 to 2000, and there\u2019s a harsh VHS aesthetic everywhere.\u00a0The director and gifted editor made it look, well, not like a million bucks. That\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n<p>When Kerr flies coach to Tokyo, it\u2019s to fight in unglamorous tournaments as far away from the MGM Grand as you can get. The green-hued locker room showers look like they belong in a meat processing plant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The very believable winding back of the clock to when MMA wasn\u2019t nearly as huge as it is now allows Johnson, one of the world\u2019s most famous men, to disappear enough that we mostly forget it\u2019s The Rock up there.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to say if \u201cSmashing Machine\u201d will be a launching pad to more prestigious, artsy roles for the guy who got his Hollywood start in \u201cThe Mummy Returns.\u201d Like Pamela Anderson\u2019s lovely turn in \u201cThe Last Showgirl,\u201d he\u2019s plying his trade in a very familiar environment. <\/p>\n<p>I doubt his next step is a biopic about Harry Truman.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever happens, kudos to Johnson for finally chipping away at The Rock.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>movie review SMASHING MACHINE Running time: 123 minutes. In theaters Oct. 3. TORONTO \u2014 In a canyon-sized leap for Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson, the man has gone from being a professional wrestler to playing an MMA fighter. What a stretch! But I suppose the old chestnut \u201cwrite what you know\u201d can just as easily apply [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2009645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[360095,313617,21741,304995,21912,318702],"class_list":["post-2009644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-dwayne-the-rock-johnson","tag-emily-blunt","tag-entertainment","tag-movie-reviews","tag-movies","tag-toronto-international-film-festival"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Dwayne-\u2018The-Rock-Johnson-guns-for-Oscar-in-sleepy-Smashing.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2009644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2009645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2009644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2009644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2009644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}