Movie Review

Dwayne Johnson aims for Oscar glory in The Smashing Machine

Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine.

Photo courtesy of A24

For almost 25 years, Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) has tried to make himself into a movie star, with mixed results. While his leading man parts did okay, his biggest successes have been as part of franchises like Fast & Furious, Jumanji, and Moana, none of which were entirely on his broad shoulders. Having possibly exhausted his attempts at appealing to broad audiences, he’s finally decided to test out his dramatic acting abilities in The Smashing Machine.

Johnson plays Mark Kerr, a mixed martial arts champion who was at the forefront of the Ultimate Fighting Championship when it first started to get popular in the late 1990s. The film follows Kerr as he competes in the UFC and also the Pride Fighting Championship, a series of competitions in Japan. Kerr is joined at almost every step by his girlfriend, Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt), with whom he has a somewhat volatile relationship.

Kerr is helped along the way by fellow fighter Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader) and coach Bas Rutten (playing himself). His desire to stay on top and stay ahead of the pain that results from the notoriously brutal sport leads him down the path of steroids and opioids, a combination that affects his mind along with his body.

Written and directed by Benny Safdie, the film is bafflingly boring considering the sport it’s depicting. While it’s clear Safdie has a big appreciation for mixed martial arts, that love doesn’t come through in the fight scenes, which are often confusing and static. He also does a poor job of getting across why the film is focused on Kerr, whose dominance - he started off his career with 11 straight wins - is not really on display. In fact, he often comes across as shockingly soft for such a big man.

Johnson layers on makeup to make himself slightly unrecognizable, although it’s a little odd to go to that effort and still look nothing like the actual Kerr. He’s significantly bulked up, even more than he has been for the WWE or action roles, which gives him a hulking physicality that sells at least that part of the character. But it also turns him into a lumbering oaf, a trait that takes away from Kerr’s supposed athleticism.

Safdie and his team make other odd choices that prevent the film from being successful. Staples is the classic wet blanket girlfriend in a sports movie, a character who only seems to exist to drag the male star down. The depiction of Kerr and Staples’ relationship is overwrought to the point of exhaustion. The score by Nala Sinephro is also overbearing, used to match the action exactly in some scenes and cranked up in others in a way that makes the music the focus instead of being complementary to the story.

Johnson, whose charms have been evident in most of his mainstream roles, can never seem to get a handle on how to play Kerr. He makes Kerr appear both intimidating and weak at the same time, never fully inhabiting the fighter’s persona. Blunt is done no favors by her stereotypical role, and unfortunately she is unable to elevate it. Bader, an MMA fighter making his acting debut, does so well in his supporting part that you could make the argument he should have played Kerr instead.

The Smashing Machine is being hyped as an Oscar vehicle for Johnson, but neither he nor the way Safdie tells the story makes the case that his performance should be considered one of the best of the year. Mark Kerr might have been an impressive fighter in his heyday, but the film about his life does little to get that idea across to anyone who didn’t personally witness him in action.

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The Smashing Machine opens in theaters on October 3.

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Movie Review

New movie Being Heumann spotlights rousing fight for disability rights

Photo courtesy of Apple TV

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The presence of building ramps, curb ramps, wheelchair-accessible stalls, accessible parking spaces, and more accommodations for people with disabilities is now so ubiquitous in the United States that it’s hard to remember a time without them. But as the new film Being Heumann ably demonstrates, the fight to get those things was as difficult as any civil rights battle.

The film focuses on a specific period of time in 1977 when disability rights activist Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) led a movement to try to get U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) Joseph Califano (Mark Ruffalo) to sign Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. After years of no progress under Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter, Heumann and her group of other disabled people and allies decide to stage a sit-in at the HEW offices in San Francisco.

What begins as a temporary event turns into a prolonged ordeal, with Califano initially unmoved and the protesters unwilling to leave the building. The strong-willed Heumann, helped by fellow leaders like Kitty Cone (Madeline Delp) and TV reporter Evan White (Dylan O’Brien), not only puts pressure on Califano and other HEW staffers, but also members of her own group, some of whom are unable or unwilling to stay as long as she wants.

Directed by Sian Heder (CODA) and written by Heder and Rebekah Taussig, the film features a rousing story made all the more effective by the presence of actual disabled people. In addition to people in wheelchairs like Madeley and Delp, the cast features people who are blind, deaf, are short-statured, and more. Some of the cast members are professional actors, some aren’t, but they all bring a realism that enhances the story.

Heder and her team underscore the importance of the story by taking their time telling it. That doesn’t just mean giving Madeley and others extra scenes to demonstrate their skills, although the 127-minute film provides plenty of time for that. More pointedly, Heder allows the disabled people to take however long they need to do something, like trying to navigate inaccessible stairways or using a pointer to spell out words. The respect this approach shows the actors brings extra heft to the story they’re trying to tell.

There are multiple moments in the film where audience members may scoff at what’s happening to the disabled people, most notably when they are met with derision by government officials and even regular passers-by. Heder occasionally overplays her hand by either showing Califano as being overly callous or White being supremely helpful, but she mostly plays things straight, allowing the difficulties the protestors face speak for themselves.

Madeley, a veteran actor with over 30 credits to her name, puts in an award-worthy performance. While the reality of her disabled body plays a part in her role, it’s mostly the fieriness and determination that she shows that make it stellar. Others like Delp, Antwan Tolliver, Rio Finnegan, and more prove crucial in supporting roles. Known actors like Ruffalo, O’Brien, and Rob Delaney are fine, but secondary to the main group.

Being Heumann is a great way to honor the legacy of Heumann, who passed away in 2023. There is still work to be done to ensure disabled people are given access and respect in the U.S., but the events in the film show that people like Heumann and the groups they lead have power when they choose to fight.

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Being Heumann is now playing in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV.

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