Kintsugi: a Japanese art form that embraces beauty in broken things by repairing broken pottery with golden lacquer. Mark Kerr, known as “The Smashing Machine,” embodies this concept in the film of the same name, pieced together with Krazy Glue rather than gold.
His first solo feature after working with his brother Josh Safdie, director Benny Safdie, known for “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems,” slows down his usual style, adding more emotional depth. Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Mark Kerr, a former MMA fighter and NCAA Division I wrestling champion, the film is less concerned with violence than vulnerability, despite being named “The Smashing Machine.”
Set in the late 1990s, the film focuses on Kerr’s struggles outside the octagon — addiction, mental health and a strained relationship with girlfriend Dawn Staples, played by Emily Blunt (“The Devil Wears Prada”). Johnson delivers his most vulnerable and transformative performance to date, shedding “The Rock” persona for a soft-spoken and tender shell of a fighter.
Whilst Blunt delivers an equally impressive performance, her character is villainized as the toxic girlfriend, standing in the way of Kerr’s success and left underdeveloped, leaving room for Kerr’s relationship with his best friend and wrestling partner, Mark Coleman, to shine. Played by real-life MMA fighter Ryan Bader in his acting debut, Bader delivers a surprisingly emotionally grounded performance. The chemistry and brotherhood between “Mark and Mark” stand out throughout the film, adding warmth and love to the film.
Shot on a mixture of VHS, 16mm and 70mm IMAX film, the cinematography is grainy and feels similar to documentary-style film. Opening with a hazy VHS sequence of Kerr gearing up for his fighting debut, the film mimics the look and feel of the ‘90s, setting a tone of nostalgia but also intimacy through Kerr’s experience and deeply personal story. The fight sequences are equally as intimate, with each head butt and blow shown up close and unfiltered.
Though it follows a familiar sports arc, including a training montage that looks straight from “Rocky,” “The Smashing Machine” attempts to extend outside the traditional genre with raw emotion following too closely to the 2002 documentary of the same name.
“The Smashing Machine” is an inadequate title for the film, with the only destruction taking place in the gold-filled cracks of a man learning to piece himself back together.
4 broken bowls out of 5
