'The Smashing Machine'- Warm-Hearted Dwayne Johnson Biopic

Photo courtesy of William Beavers.

Hello, readers.

In Dwayne Johnson's latest acting/producing work, he starred as former wrestler/mixed martial artist Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie's 'The Smashing Machine.'

At first, I wasn't too impressed because of Kerr's hunger for victory and blood in the fighting ring. But as he recognized that drugs were messing up his life and he went in to rehab, I liked Kerr's characterization and Johnson's performance of him. I felt that Johnson and his character reminded me that fighters are human beings that want to do their best out of the ring.

I also liked Emily Blunt's performance as Kerr's girlfriend Dawn Staples. Blunt gave emotional power in her character trying to reason with Kerr and make sure Kerr looks out for her own wellbeing. Though I could see it was not easy when there were times when they would argue and Kerr would snap their door in half in frustration. On the other hand, it was nice to see that they could kiss and make up by having fun at a carnival, with Dawn having the time of her life on an Alien Abduction (Gravitron) ride.

A lot of Kerr's dealing with his inner demons reminded me of 'Ray' when Jamie Foxx's Ray Charles realized how much he was hurting himself and his loved ones with drugs and over-focusing on his work.

Though this is the first I've ever seen of Mark Kerr, I thought the film would end with him becoming the 2000 Ultimate Fighter. But the film felt less like a predictable biopic when it showed that he lost the Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals to Kazuyuki Fujita. And it was good to see that Kerr was okay with losing, based on the camera zooming on him smiling as he reflected on it.

So in conclusion, 'The Smashing Machine' was an 8/10 for feeling too similar to other biopics, sports or not, but was still good in the performances by Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt and the characterization of their characters. There were also some good echoing string music to highlight the tension and drama and good inclusion of Bas Rutten and Ryan Bader as Kerr's coach Mark Coleman.

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#TheSmashingMachine, #DwayneJohnson, #EmilyBlunt, #Sportsdrama

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