In fact there have been inevitable (and never fully unfair) jokes about The Rock operating for an Oscar since The Smashing Machine was introduced, however Safdie and Johnson definitely make a compelling case for it. Whereas even a wig and a few prosthetics can’t conceal his extremely recognisable visage, there’s a delicateness and vulnerability Johnson brings to the position in addition to apparent bodily command that mix right into a mesmerising and empathetic character examine. He understands Kerr – undoubtedly as a result of he was a a part of the wrestling world lengthy earlier than he was an actor – and watching how deftly he delivers this efficiency, it’s a disgrace Johnson has languished in middling blockbusters and motion films for the final 20 years when he’s clearly able to extra.
However even past the 2 glorious lead performances and the distinctive supporting flip from real-life MMA fighter Ryan Bader as Kerr’s buddy and fellow UFC competitor, Mark Coleman, there’s loads else working in The Smashing Machine’s favour, which shuns the trimmings of conventional sporting biopics obsessive about the idea of sacrificing every thing within the identify of victory. The early loss that Mark experiences units his life on a totally different path: he should reckon together with his opioid dependency; his self-destructive profession; his relationship and his psychological state earlier than he may even take into consideration getting again within the ring.
Safdie works in a totally different mode to the swollen melodrama of many style mates – even the best amongst them – and a key affect is John Hyams’ uncooked and revealing 1997 documentary, which additionally provides this movie its identify. Some moments are recreated, equivalent to Kerr earnestly explaining UFC to a flippantly baffled lady in a physician’s ready room, however a lot has been condensed, and that is to the movie’s profit because it avoids changing into a by-the-book account of Kerr’s life so far.
Even the choice to shoot all of the UFC fights in a extra conventional tv occasion model (distant angles, fast cuts, cameras buzzing round like flies) somewhat than the evocative and intimate close-ups which have outlined masterworks like Raging Bull and even The Wrestler give The Smashing Machine its personal signature. The hand-held camerawork of earlier Safdie movies returns, with The Curse cinematographer Maceo Bishop (who additionally labored within the Uncut Gems digital camera division) stepping as much as the plate, fashioning one thing that feels chaotic and thrilling however by no means uncontrolled.
In reality, it’s a movie that feels gloriously alive, earnest in its depiction of masculinity that’s fragile somewhat than poisonous whereas nonetheless grappling with the query of why anybody would select to make a residing in such a barbaric means. Each punch, each kick and each fall is felt, and whereas he’s mopping blood from his nostril or having his chin stitched again up, the query lingers in regards to the compulsion that drives Kerr; the compulsion that drives all of us to do issues which might be unhealthy for us within the identify of one thing higher that we would not even be capable to articulate. On this sense, The Smashing Machine isn’t about victory or loss, however the why and the way you bleed.
