Dwayne Johnson, also known as “Rocky Maivia,” “The Rock,” ‘The People’s Champion,” and so on, has a lot of businesses. He helps run the parent company of both the WWE and UFC, has his own tequila line, sells clothes that you can find at your local Dick’s Sporting Goods, and even dabbles in some off-season pro football. One business he’s neglected a bit is the one he’s most famous for (outside of wrestling, that is): Acting.
Rocky has released some bad movies lately, and he’s aware of their problems. So, what’s a guy to do? Get back to his roots by teaming up with Benny Safdie (of the now-defunct Safdie Brothers), Emily Blunt, and A24 for The Smashing Machine, a biopic about UFC legend Mark Kerr and his struggles with drug addiction between championships.
Rock’s not a bad actor — anybody who’s seen Southland Tales, Pain and Gain, or any of his totally dependable street-level B-movies can attest to — and based on this trailer that A24 dropped on Tuesday, we think plenty more folks will come around to that opinion later this year.
Peep it:
Here’s a synopsis for The Smashing Machine:
“’The Smashing Machine’ follows Mark Kerr, the legendary MMA fighter from the no-holds-barred era of the UFC at the peak of his career. He struggles with addiction, winning, love and friendship in the year 2000.”
Lame. What does Documentary Heaven’s synopsis for John Hyams’ documentary say?
“Originally released in 2002 and directed by John Hyams, ‘The Smashing Machine’ is a film about the mixed martial arts career and personal life of Mark Kerr. This graphic documentary takes an unflinching look into the world of no-holds-barred fighting and the modern day gladiators who populate it, all through the eyes of Mark ‘The Smashing Machine’ Kerr and his friend Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman.
Today the UFC and other MMA promotions like it are far more sanitised compared to what they once were in the mid-90’s. At one stage mixed martial arts was banned in the United States as it was considered to be to gruesome. These were much harder times for the fighters too and in this film we witness first hand the effects of putting your body on the line in such a way as we see Kerr struggle with an addiction to painkillers.“
Much better. You can watch that documentary here, and you can go see The Rock act up when The Smashing Machine hits theaters on October 3.