The Smashing Machine. 2025. USA. Written and directed by Benny Safdie. With Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader. DCP courtesy A24. 123 min.
Benny Safdie, who with his brother Josh has long been drawn to stories of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, won the Best Director prize at Venice this year for his solo debut The Smashing Machine, about the life of amateur wrestling champion and Ultimate Fighting Championship star Mark Kerr. True to form, Safdie casts an undersold actor who gives the performance of a lifetime, in this case Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson—he of action hero franchises and cartoon Polynesian demigods—who brings genuine pathos to a man struggling to temper his beastly instincts. Lending excellent support are Emily Blunt, as his fiercely loyal wife, and Ryan Bader, as his fraternal soulmate in and out of the ring, as they lead a cast of authentic nonprofessionals. Safdie and cinematographer Maceo Bishop move between VHS, 16mm, and 65mm, lending the film a kind of pay-per-view verisimilitude.
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