Ron’s Review

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I don’t think I like films made by the Safdie brothers. I despised Uncut Gems. I didn’t like Marty Supreme. And though this film isn’t the worst, it’s not a good movie. It leaves the showing part of ‘show, don’t tell’ in the far distance, and focuses on telling us so much of what we should have been seeing. This is a film, not an audio drama, after all.

But every so often, the film stops to have the protagonist and his girlfriend have a long chat or argument about what they’re unhappy about, and what’s been going wrong. What they discuss, and usually yell about, is always news to the audience. Despite being an extremely slow film, there is never enough time to show us why and how this relationship is collapsing.

The film seems more intent on focusing on the fighting and Mark Kerr’s training to become the world champion. That’s fine. Let’s focus on that but let’s also see what obstacles he’s facing. He becomes addicted to pain medication. But never do we see how he handles pain. It’s 0-100. He’s fine, then he’s addicted. Does his girlfriend Dawn know about the drugs or doesn’t she? It’s a guess until she tells us that she knows. Would’ve been nice to see her find out and react to such a monumental change in her partner.

The fighting scenes are fantastic. They’re raw and realistic. The camera stays on the actors as they contort their bodies in almost unbelievable directions. Every second feels like watching a real game.

What I did like was the documentary style of shooting this film. It didn’t work for Uncut Gems but it looks great here. I felt like I was watching a documentary even though I could see Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt on my screen. It made the story more believable. Unfortunately, the story itself was just too choppy to be enjoyed. It’s badly written and doesn’t translate to the screen.

I can see Johnson straining for an Oscar nomination here. But he is never able to transcend the fact that he’s The Rock. Despite all the prosthetics and makeup, which were good, The Rock is always under there. Is it an inspired performance? He’s trying. He’s drawing on what he knows as one of the world’s greatest wrestlers to make the character as real as possible. But the script gives him so little to work with. I wonder why he never asked for the script to be fleshed out. It’s got a 2 hour runtime, yet the film fails to tell us much about Mark at all.

The ending thus, feels unearned. Mark has gone through a lot but how is he feeling at the end of his biggest fight? What has he realized about his life, his goals, his partner? Who knows these things? Definitely not the script.

Mon’s Review

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I’m not a big fan of wrestling, so probably would’ve avoided this film. But I heard a lot about The Rock’s performance and decided to give it a go.

First up, The Rock is great in this. He changed his voice, his posture. He gives this character his all and it looks effortless. This is not a layered performance but it is a believable one. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get over the uncanny valley of the makeup. He still looks like The Rock.

The film itself has its ups and downs. The matches themselves are edited brilliantly. Benny Safdie, the writer-director-producer, edited the film too, and you can tell he’s invested and inspired by the matches. That’s when the film really shines. We also have a lot of long takes that let us live with the character — these are perfectly executed as well.

Safdie, from what I read on IMDb, was inspired by a documentary on Kerr, of the same name, to make this film. He certainly encapsulates that documentary look and feel throughout the film. This gives the film a candid look, removing even more of the artifice of fiction.

Unfortunately, where the film fails is the character dynamics between Kerr and his girlfriend Dawn. She’s not much of a person, more of an obstacle, so she’s erratic. She’s given little screen time and even less of an arc. Emily Blunt is great in the role, but she’s sidelined by the script.

Once again it’s that middle act issue — we’re supposed to learn more about the characters through their interactions and yet we’re just told that things have happened or been said that they’re now reacting to. It undermines what could have been a much stronger story.

I like this film a lot more than the other Safdie sports movie, Marty Supreme, which has been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. That film was contrived and exasperating. This one at least tries to remember that characters are human beings who need to make some modicum of sense. But unfortunately The Smashing Machine undoes its own attempts at greatness by some poor editing and storytelling choices.