The Smashing Machine (2025)

Taking place between the years of 1997 to 2000, the film follows the true story of Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson), a champion wrestler and mixed martial artist, and his struggle with drugs and his relationship with his toxic live in girlfriend (Emily Blunt). Written and directed by Benny Safdie (UNCUT GEMS). Johnson justifiably received much praise for this career best performance here and some awards attention. But while 2025 was a good year for male performances, the movie was a box office flop which is too bad and Johnson's performance got lost in the shuffle. But the movie itself is a bigger problem. It's just ..... okay and it's unpleasant. We've seen it all before, the movie star/sports figure/rock singer struggling with drugs and their victory in getting off dope or coming back to reclaim their crown. Well done and worth seeing for Johnson's (and Blunt's) fine performances but it's hard to cheer on someone who makes a career of smashing people's face in. With Ryan Bader and Oleksandr Usyk.