The Rock stars as a real MMA fighter in Benny Safdie’s new drama. It’s exactly the role that Dwayne Johnson should be playing, but perhaps it’s also the only role that Johnson could be playing.

Johnson definitely has his fans, but as a movie star, he’s a strange figure. Over the last five years he’s “perfected” his on-screen persona. The only problem is that that persona is usually almost entirely boring. Stoic, but insincere. Bulky, but never sexual. Perhaps this wouldn’t be much of an issue if the movies didn’t also reflect this. Movies like Red Notice or Red One (what’s with his obsession with one color?), which were shot on greenscreens more than they weren’t, lack the type of sincerity needed to give them any weight. Despite Leonardo DiCaprio almost objectively being a better actor than Johnson, they’re both two of the only stars in Hollywood that can get original movies greenlit by major studios. Why, while DiCaprio’s starring in challenging, groundbreaking movies by some of our best living directors, is Johnson starring in bland, action flicks that would make almost anybody’s eyes glaze over? 

Well, perhaps because of more than a few underperforming movies, Johnson finally decided to try something new because in 2023, it was announced that Johnson would star in the new drama directed by Benny Safdie. 

The Smashing Machine follows Mark Kerr (Johnson), a MMA fighter who’s dealing with addiction, marital problems with his wife, Dawn (Emily Blunt), and his first actual loss in a fight. The Smashing Machine is actually at its most effective when it’s the study of Mark’s friendship with fellow fighter Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader). It’s almost always an interesting dynamic when two characters love each other, but because of their occupation(s) come to a head. The Smashing Machine is at its least effective when it’s the study of Mark’s marriage. Don’t get me wrong, Blunt is doing god’s work, but Safdie never can never quite convince me that perhaps this deterioration of their relationship wouldn’t work better as something only hinted at. Part of what made Michael Mann’s Ferrari two years ago so effective at making the titular character’s personal and professional life coexist in the same film is that the actual events depicted all took place over about the course of a week. The Smashing Machine doesn’t quite have the luxury of that (the film takes place over the course of two years). 

I’m not quite as interested in breaking down the structure of the film (although I’m sure the last scene will spawn countless conversations). What I’m interested in is how this film actually functions as a movie star vehicle for Johnson. On paper, this is exactly what The Rock should be doing. After all, this isn’t too far off from what Tom Cruise did in the 90s (a different time for movie stars, no doubt) with films like Jerry Maguire and Magnolia. Finding good writers and directors and letting them use him in interesting ways is what Johnson should’ve been doing for years. That seems to be what he’s done here. And it would be underselling his performance to say that he doesn’t play both the scenes of intense drama as well as the quiet moments incredibly well. So why isn’t The Smashing Machine quite as interesting a film in the context of Johnson’s career as I want it to be? 

Up until this point, Johnson’s career moves have all been extremely calculated. He wants to be the next Willis, Schwarzenegger, or Clooney. So what does he do? He makes a bunch of bland, unofficial remakes of those movies. Skyscraper is a blatant attempt at a Die Hard. Hercules is Conan the Barbarian. I could go on. The Smashing Machine should be a welcome release from all of that, but unfortunately it feels almost just as calculated. Perhaps the fact that this, on paper, is exactly what he should be doing makes it not as interesting as it could be. I’m not quite sure how to fix this. Johnson will most certainly get an Oscar nomination for his performance as Kerr, but because this is perhaps the last time Johnson will ever attempt something like this (the film’s poor box office might confirm this), I’m doubtful of those who are declaring him the unambiguous winner right now. Johnson, one of the biggest movie stars in the world, might also be the most confused.