Diverging from the same path for the first time, Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine is the director and writer’s feature length solo debut from his brother, Josh Safdie (who coincidentally also happened to make a sports drama the same year). Following the true story of mixed martial arts wrestler Mark Kerr in the late 90’s, the film showcases the ups and downs of Kerr’s career alongside painkiller addiction. Starring Dwayne Johnson (“The Rock”) as Mark Kerr, Emily Blunt playing the role of his girlfriend, Dawn, and Ryan Bader (a mixed martial artist himself) as Mark Coleman, Kerr’s closest companion and coach, the cast is kept to a minimum while highlighting Kerr’s profession and personal life.
When considering the Safdie brothers’ previous work (Uncut Gems, Good Time and even Daddy Longlegs), an overarching and occasionally overbearing tension resonates throughout their films. Benny Safdie slows down that anxiety in The Smashing Machine, but unfortunately to such a degree that it’s hard to feel an emotional connection to the characters. The film initially unravels like it’s in mid-storytelling, obvious but sudden unhealthy relationship dynamics between Mark and Dawn apparent in the household and Kerr’s career taking a turn for the worse, already dependent on opioids to function. As someone who has never lost a fight, Kerr cannot comprehend an alternate reality where the possibility of losing is even an option. With such confined constraints, something eventually has to give. Yet when Kerr loses consciousness on his living room floor and winds up in the hospital and rehab, it plays out more matter of fact than with emotional empathy towards Kerr and his future, almost like splices of emotional significant moments and character building have been cut from the picture.
Where Benny Safdie’s intensity doesn’t waver lies within the four corners of the ring. Brutal physical assaults, bloodied knuckles and inevitable facial stitches are all part of the competition each time Kerr and his opponents face off. Even scenes with his trainers in the gym post-rehab feel intensely visceral; muscles gleaming, sweat dripping off biceps and sudden strains of tendons that caused pained reactions even to its viewers. Despite The Smashing Machine revolving around extreme sports, it’s still easy to partake in the film without having extensive prior knowledge in the realm of wrestling. While we can’t help but root for the protagonist, Benny Safdie’s feature takes a sharp turn from what the Safdie’s do best; by removing amped up and unrestrained tension from his film, Benny Safdie’s film falls flat, relying on routine which unfortunately amounts to a mediocre and predictable biopic.
