Recently, there was news that a company named Particle6 had created the world’s first AI actress, and that certain agencies were looking into hiring her.
The idea of this actress (named Tilly Norwood) has understandably upset most of Hollywood. I read one actress said one of the main reasons this won’’t work is because Tilly lacks one of the most crucial tools an actor needs: past experiences to draw from. This is one of the main ingredients that makes Dwayne Johnson’s performance in The Smashing Machine so remarkable.
Like many my age, it is basically impossible for me to distinguish between him and “The Rock” persona he cultivated in his wrestling days. In his acting career, it has been said (and hard to argue against) that he is basically playing himself. I don’t disagree, but he is so effortlessly charming that it is hard to want him to play anything else. His latest role as former fighter Mark Kerr does not take away that charm, but expands upon it.
We are told the film is set in a year stretch of 1997-2000 where Kerr is in the prime of his fighting career, despite a rocky relationship with his girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt). Like many a bio pic, Kerr has a personal struggle of sorts to deal with, and for him, it is an addiction to opioids.
It wasn’t until after the film that I realized some of the cast were actually former fighters without any acting experience. This includes Bas Rutten (playing himself), Oleksandr Usyk, and (most impressive to me) Ryan Bader as Kerr’s friend and fellow fighter Mark Coleman.
However, for one reason or another, the one who is not really effective at all is Emily Blunt. On paper, she is without question the most talented in the cast, and is friends with Johnson in real life (they were in the Jungle Cruise movie a few years ago). Still, perhaps it is because the role is against her type, or it is just another supportive wife (or in this case, girlfriend) role, the result is just borderline forgettable.
Parents, the R rating is, as you may imagine, for the violence in the fights, but it was nothing too terrible. Honestly, the film just has the normal amount of F bombs and such that one would find in a R rated film (there is no sexual content or nudity). There is one pivotal dramatic moment between Johnson and Blunt that can surely garner some gasps from the audience (I won’t spoil it), so High School and above.
Still, what The Smashing Machine amounts to is an unconventional sports film with an unconventional performance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It could very well get him to the Oscars with a nomination, although I don’t think the film itself will.
Then again, as The Rock has always taught me, it doesn’t matter what I think.
Overall:
Nothing else to say 