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A24\u2019s new MMA biopic The Smashing Machine<\/em>, directed by Benny Safdie<\/strong> and starring Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson<\/strong> as Mark Kerr<\/strong>, has landed in theaters. Based in part on the 2002 documentary, it attempts to dramatize Kerr\u2019s rise in UFC\/PRIDE, his addiction struggles, and the toll both took on his life, love, and legacy.<\/p>\n The bar for MMA movies is notoriously low. Outside of Warrior<\/em>, Here Comes The Boom<\/em>, and maybe Never Back Down<\/em>, most fight films have been forgettable. Thankfully, The Smashing Machine<\/em> belongs in the \u201cgood\u201d column \u2014 though it isn\u2019t without flaws.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve seen the iconic 2002 documentary of the same name, you\u2019ll know this story already. Much of the film feels like a retelling, with some scenes recreated nearly shot-for-shot. But the selling point here is Johnson, and he delivers in a way we haven\u2019t seen before. Known for playing \u201cThe Rock\u201d in every film, he disappears into Kerr \u2014 from the physique, to the mannerisms, to the soft, almost fragile voice. He\u2019s tremendous, and easily the best part of the movie. It\u2019s a performance that has already sparked early Oscar buzz, and deservedly so (UFC CEO Dana White<\/strong> was right<\/a>)<\/p>\n The acting across the board is solid. Ryan Bader <\/strong>as Mark Coleman<\/strong> is actually really good \u2014 even though he looks and sounds nothing like Coleman \u2014 but Johnson and Emily Blunt<\/strong> (as Kerr\u2019s partner Dawn) are electric together. Their chemistry is undeniable, but the film leans heavily into the toxicity of their relationship. While super compelling, it often overshadows other elements of Kerr\u2019s story, which leaves the film feeling empty.<\/p>\n As for the fighting? There isn\u2019t as much of it as fans might expect. The film shows Kerr\u2019s early Vale Tudo success and parts of his PRIDE run, but skips over big chunks of his UFC career and the reason he left UFC (fighter pay). What is shown, however, feels raw and authentic \u2014 Safdie captures the chaos of early MMA in a way that looks and feels real.<\/p>\n The movie also tackles Kerr\u2019s battle with addiction. While it doesn\u2019t always ring true, it adds weight to the portrait of a fighter whose toughest opponent was himself. As a recovering addict myself, it was pretty unbelievable, but that\u2019s a story for another time.<\/p>\n Overall, The Smashing Machine<\/em> is authentic and heartfelt, but uneven in its execution. It\u2019s a film with a lot of power and sincerity, yet one that can feel oddly hollow at times. Still, thanks to Johnson\u2019s career-best performance, it stands as one of the better MMA films on the market.<\/p>\n Hopefully, Hollywood decides to do more biopics on MMA fighters because boy oh boy, there are plenty of insane stories to choose from.<\/p>\n Final grade: 6.5\/10<\/p>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A24\u2019s new MMA biopic The Smashing Machine, directed by Benny Safdie and starring Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson as Mark Kerr, has landed in theaters. Based in part on the 2002 documentary, it attempts to dramatize Kerr\u2019s rise in UFC\/PRIDE, his addiction struggles, and the toll both took on his life, love, and legacy. The bar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2064983,"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":[25172],"tags":[326505,360095,385746,360077,344655,360534],"class_list":["post-2064982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-benny-safdie","tag-dwayne-the-rock-johnson","tag-here-comes-the-boom","tag-mark-coleman","tag-mark-kerr","tag-smashing-machine"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/\u2018The-Smashing-Machine-movie-review-\u2014-A-heartfelt-hollow-punch.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064982","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=2064982"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2064984,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064982\/revisions\/2064984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2064983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2064982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2064982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2064982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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