Film Review – The Smashing Machine

Who is Mark Kerr? That’s the primary question in “The Smashing Machine,” with the end of the picture describing the former fighter as a “pioneer” in the world of mixed martial arts during its early growth period with global audiences. This information is arguably best served at the front of the film, but writer/director Benny Safdie isn’t too attentive to information about Kerr’s history in the feature, which isn’t a bio-pic, but a snapshot of a particularly turbulent time in the fighter’s life. “The Smashing Machine” is light on details, but it carries fantastic mood on occasion, getting into the highs and lows of Kerr’s experience, giving Dwayne Johnson a real acting opportunity as he’s tasked to play a flawed, humbled person going through quite a bit with himself and others. “The Smashing Machine” isn’t always dramatically steady, as Safdie nudges the material into soap opera territory at times, but it stays compelling and periodically raw, really selling its mission to make Kerr a household name. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com