The Stream: Surprisingly dull for a movie about a great MMA fighter.

The Big Screen: A wonderful performance by Dwayne Johnson.

The Final Bill: Dwayne Johnson’s strong performance is the only reason to see this movie.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Benny Safdie
Writers: Benny Safdie
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Bader, Emily Blunt, Bas Rutten
Genre: Drama, Biography, Sports
Rating: R for language and some drug abuse
Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes
Production Companies: A24, Magnetic Fields Entertainment, Out for the Count, Seven Bucks Productions
Platform: In theaters October 3, 2025
Notable Trailers: Black Phone 2, Die My Love, The Mastermind, Is This Thing On?, The Bride!, Marty Supreme, Eternity

What’s that smell, Streamers? It’s what Dwayne Johnson is cooking up in the movies this month. He’s on his Oscar hunt with a serious turn as Mark Kerr, a former wrestler and pioneering MMA fighter. In The Smashing Machine, we follow Mark Kerr (Johnson) through a tumultuous few years between 1997-2000 where he sees professional struggles, addictions issues and personal strife in his relationship with Dawn Staples, (Emily Blunt). Knee-to-the-face hijinks ensue.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much to say about The Smashing Machine. It is a pretty standard biopic about a niche sports figure. While it doesn’t traffic in all of the sports biopic tropes, it has a heavy dose of them, which makes this movie feel basic and dull. The limited timeframe of this movie, which should provide some focus and specificity to the story, works against it because the audience doesn’t get to see why Mark Kerr is great or why these 4 years of his life are particularly interesting. As a result, the movie feels unfocused and meandering. Furthermore, Dawn Staples is depicted as the caricature of a boxer’s girlfriend in a movie. Emily Blunt does her best to make the character into something, but the writing of this character undermines her at every turn. Blunt becomes annoying and distracting as result.

The only reason to see The Smashing Machine is for Dwayne Johnson. The Rock takes this role very seriously, and his dedication to portraying the struggles within this character can be felt in every scene. He’s still charismatic in the ring, which makes the fight scenes pretty exciting, and he taps into the sympathy you’d want to feel for this character. It is unfortunate that the movie doesn’t show more about who Mark Kerr was in order for the audience to understand and care about what he’s going through in the movie’s timeline.

Ultimately, The Smashing Machine is a standard biopic that fails to highlight why its subject is important. It uses sports movie tropes that undermine its narrative and make it dull or annoying (we’re looking at you, Emily Blunt). Despite a strong performance by Dwayne Johnson, this movie never breaks through what’s increasingly a frustrating movie genre. It’s only a handful of popcorn for this one – maybe catch it when it premieres on streaming.