October 12, 2025 • 39 mins
A fighter who can break you in the ring but apologizes with his eyes—this is the paradox that hooked us. We went in expecting swagger, exits through flames, and the usual invincible sheen. What we found instead was Dwayne Johnson letting go of “The Rock” and stepping into Mark Kerr with bruised grace, while Emily Blunt turns every shared scene into a live wire. The fights snap, sure, but the quiet beats are louder: the held breath before a bad decision, the shame that keeps secrets alive, and the kind of friendship that refuses to fracture just to give the plot a twist.
We dig into the gendered crossfire at the story’s heart: how many men are taught to love by building careers, and how many women ask for presence over provision. The movie lingers in that gap, and we sit in the discomfort with it. Anger simmers but doesn’t detonate where you expect; the violence turns inward, and that choice feels painfully real. Mark Coleman’s portrayal becomes the rare on-screen constant—no jealous heel turn, no betrayal—just loyalty with boundaries, the kind of anchor that gives recovery a chance. That sincerity helps the film dodge cliché and keeps the emotional stakes honest.
Then there’s the ending—anticlimactic, maybe even jarring. We wrestle with it. Is that a flaw, or the truest note a biopic can hit? Redemption rarely sticks its landings on cue, and postscript text can bruise a perfect arc. Still, what stays with us is the craft: documentary textures, long takes that force the question to bloom, and two leads who create a pressure cooker without a punch thrown. Call it a sports biopic if you want, but we felt a relationship drama with gloves on.
If you’re drawn to performance-driven stories, complicated love, and a sports film that cares more about the person than the trophy, queue this one up. And if you’ve seen it, we want your take—does that final note work for you, or does it undercut the climb? Follow, share, and leave a review to keep the conversation going.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:29):
Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of
Movies Worth Seeing.
Today's episode, we're gonnatalk about the smashing machine,
starring Dwayne the Rack Janssenand Emily Blunt.
Yeah.
She's just such a great actress,man.
She's just so fucking good.
(00:50):
She's just so fucking good as anactress.
Just her performance in this isjust what did you think of the
movie?
I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (01:04):
Was there a movie playing?
I was just looking at EmilyBlunt.
Fuck you, John Krasinski.
Wow.
No, okay.
So yeah, Emily Blunt wasabsolutely amazing.
But she is always amazing.
Yeah.
I've never seen a movie where Iwas disappointed with her
(01:26):
performance.
However, The Rock.
The Rock is different.
I don't like what he normallydoes, but he was unrecognizable
in this film.
SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
Not just physically with the I mean visually with
the prosthetics.
It does help.
It definitely does.
Like just being able to see thelike knowing it's the rock, but
also not like I feel theprosthetics helps him to strip
away his generic kind offlatline level of acting, right?
(01:59):
Like he can't he can't scrape bybecause he's playing a real
person now.
Yeah.
And no one in the comments daresay that General Hobbs from Fast
of Furious is a real person, orhe's not a fucking character.
It's just The Rock.
It's just The Rock being like,this is me when I'm invincible
(02:22):
because I'm the rack and I'malways invincible and I can beat
everyone, including Ben Diesel.
So fuck yeah.
It wasn't like that.
You know what the hardest thing,the the biggest challenge for
The Rock must have been in thismovie?
Playing a character that fuckingloses a match, that loses a
fight.
So remember that used to be awhole contract clause for him.
(02:43):
Was it?
Yeah, he couldn't lose fights.
SPEAKER_03 (02:46):
I I had no idea.
SPEAKER_02 (02:48):
It was a clause, yeah, apparently.
I'm not into the wrestlingstuff.
No, no, no, for the movie stuff,not wrestling.
The movie stuff.
Yeah, like him Fast andFurious's stuff.
There was a clause where like hecouldn't lose a fight or look
bad in fights.
Really?
Yeah.
unknown (03:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (03:03):
Part of his marketing campaign sort of
thing, as as establishing asit's got to be the the Arnold
Schwarzenegger of the 2010s orthe 2020s, I guess I should say.
And there you go.
So that that was probably thebiggest acting challenge for him
having to lose a fight and bedefeated.
But yeah, getting back to likeMark Kerr, holy shit, this guy
(03:26):
is a fucking very interestingfighter because he has such a
likable, sympathetic side tohim.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (03:35):
Very it's it the thing I loved about the movie so
much was that, like you'resaying, he is such a nice,
sympathetic, empathetic guy witha gen genuine good heart, pushed
into places where thatpersonality is really
challenged.
Yeah.
And I really like that.
(03:56):
It hits some really deep parts,like is in in so many different
types or moments in the story,he gets challenged in so many
ways, right?
SPEAKER_02 (04:04):
Especially when he's having these these moments of
conflict with his wife, withEmily Blunt's character and
dawn.
Where you're just like, oh mygod, he's gonna lose his shit.
But the the the interest, the inthe most engaging part for me is
seeing him like bubbling underthe surface.
Not not just the explosion thatyou know is coming, yeah, but
(04:28):
everything under the surface.
SPEAKER_03 (04:30):
And I feel like the beautiful thing he made with
with that is that he has becomesuch a relatable character for
young men or adult men, just menin general.
Because every man wants to benice, they want to be genuine,
they want to make the decisionsthat support their partner,
wants to support their career.
(04:50):
Whereas they put career as theirmain focus and thinking that
that will solve all the problemsin life.
Which it clearly doesn't, butthat's what, from the male
perspective, it's generalconsensus, right?
Whereas from the female, it'smore about the relationship.
Relationship is more importantthan anything.
Like I had a lot of these issueswith AJ, for example, and that's
(05:11):
why that whole relationshipstoryline, the B storyline, was
so for me, it cut really deepbecause it's exactly what I went
through with AJ.
Was that for the woman of the inin the couple, in the family,
it's relationship is the mostimportant.
Career comes second.
For the man And creating thefamily, and creating the family,
all the kind of stuff, butrelationship-wise, creating the
(05:34):
family.
Whereas for the man, it'screating a financial stability,
creating career, and that waybuild the family.
And that clashes so often, andthe way they depicted that in
this film, it was just spot on.
And I think it's so relatablefor everybody watching this
film, as well from the maleperspective as well as from the
female perspective, because youcan see the imperfection in both
(05:56):
characters, and you can seewhere it clashes, though she you
can see in the first half wherehe fucked up a lot of things,
yeah.
And then he it went 180 and shewas the one going fucking crazy.
SPEAKER_02 (06:10):
But I guess from both sides, you understand their
point of view of they're they'rejustified in their actions and
they feel justified in thedecisions they make.
SPEAKER_03 (06:22):
Like I so I can understand their points of view,
but there wasn't like exactlywhat you're saying, because like
there was a point in theirheightened moment of the fight,
just before she disappears onthe screen, before the climax of
their relationship, when shemakes one statement that he took
her on so well, she says, andand we're on his side, and she
(06:43):
says, You don't know anythingabout me.
And then we realize as much aswe're siding with him, it's
like, yeah, you're right.
We we don't know anything abouther.
And you can see in Dwayne'seyes, in Mark Kerr's eyes, that
she's right.
SPEAKER_02 (06:59):
But she's also like poking the bear.
SPEAKER_03 (07:02):
She is poking the bear and a half, 100%.
That's why we're siding withhim.
Yeah.
But when she says that, we dotake a moment and we sit with
him for a second before he sayshis next line.
SPEAKER_02 (07:12):
Yeah, there's almost an irony where the the for me,
the the scenes between the therock and Emily Blunt were so
much more intense andentertaining than the fight
scene.
SPEAKER_03 (07:28):
Yes.
Because every fight scene openedthe exact same way.
SPEAKER_02 (07:33):
Yeah, takedown.
Oh, boom.
And then at one point, I waslaughing because you know, Mark
Kerr goes for a takedown on oneof his opponents.
He lets the opponent up, andthen he just takes him in down
again.
And I was like, yeah, well, thatguy had no kind of defense
around his uh jujitsu backgroundat all.
(07:57):
But one thing I was so hookedwith Emily Blunt and and The
Rock, and one scene inparticular, I was literally just
like fucking grabbing.
In the climactic scene of therelationship.
I was just like, holy shit, thisis going, this is going down,
(08:19):
and I did not see it coming.
And that was one of thosefucking heart-wrenching moments
for me.
There was a few reallyheart-wrenching moments, yeah.
So they brought it.
Emily Blunt and The Rock,amazing chemistry.
Killed it.
Keep putting them in moviestogether.
Ryan Bader.
Right, Mark Coleman.
SPEAKER_03 (08:41):
What kind of performance did he put down?
This guy's not an actor.
This guy's a UFC fighter.
SPEAKER_02 (08:46):
I never once questioned that until you told
me he he has that he's a UFCfighter.
Right.
There was not one moment where Iwas like, this guy's acting
doesn't really seem at the samelevel.
There was no contrast.
He didn't stand out for thewrong reasons.
He totally belonged.
(09:07):
He totally belonged.
SPEAKER_03 (09:08):
Absolutely.
And and but the thing I reallyliked about his acting is it was
super sincere.
Yeah.
It wasn't acting, it was being.
It was being truthful in themoment.
And it's just okay, what hereminded me of was a new actor
in the industry that justgraduated from an acting school
(09:32):
and was just excited to bethere.
And every aspect of hischaracter that you could see was
genuine.
He was excited to be there.
He was happy, it was exploring,and there wasn't an arrogance of
like, I know what I'm doing, I'mconfident.
Whereas with Dwayne Rock Johnsonand Emily Blunt, you kind of
have that feeling.
It's like cool that you can seepast that their character, past
(09:56):
their acting, and you can seethe confidence that they're
carrying themselves with, whichis attractive to look at, but
it's you see every main actor dothat.
And this was kind of like anunderdog.
It's like this guy is like, Ikind of want to watch this guy
because it's just sincere, it'struthful, he's not overdoing
anything, he doesn't carryhimself with so much confidence
that it becomes arrogant, thatit becomes this guy believes he
(10:20):
deserves his place on thescreen.
This guy wants his place on thescreen.
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
So you you felt he had a selflessness about him
where he was completely inservice of the story.
Absolutely, and was just happyto be there to do his part.
SPEAKER_03 (10:36):
Absolutely, and that's what I'm saying.
He he reminds me of an actorwho's doing a short film for
free because he has a love forthe craft.
SPEAKER_02 (10:44):
He probably felt being a UFC fighter, he probably
felt like I want, I reallyrespect the sport since I'm part
of the sport, and this is mixedmartial arts being shown on the
big screen.
This is our chance to beappreciated and recognized.
He probably felt like a badge ofhonor in a way of like I'm gonna
(11:07):
show everyone what this sport isreally about to the mainstream
audience.
Absolutely.
And for that, he he brought it,man.
Like his his bromance, MarkColeman's bromance with Mark
Kerr, is like the ultimatebromance of like two guys that
are genuine friends, and there'sno jealousy, there's no
(11:30):
conflict, they always got eachother's backs in the best way
possible.
Probably the healthy one of thehealthiest friendships I've ever
seen on screen.
SPEAKER_03 (11:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:40):
And knowing that it's a a real life friendship
that it's based on.
SPEAKER_03 (11:46):
It didn't follow any normal Hollywood film structure
where they have to break therelationship, they have to fight
against each other, andtherefore they're gonna have
this competitive thing going onbetween them.
They were like, no, we're gonnafight, and the best one's gonna
win.
And I'm just excited to fight tospar with you.
Yeah, there was never abreakdown of relationship, they
were always there for eachother, and it was always the
(12:06):
best friend with no issues inbetween.
And it was just a nice anchorpoint in the film, something you
could hold on to.
You know, like no matter where,how bad his life is gonna get,
Mark Coleman is always gonna bethere for Marker.
Yeah.
And I don't remember seeing afilm do that in a long time
because that is real life.
(12:28):
And in real life, you have abest friend, no matter how
shit's how shit, how bad shitgets, that best friend is gonna
be there for you.
And every other film, they haveto make it a little bit more
dramatic and cause like a riftof relationship and get the
character to feel loneliness.
And it it just doesn't reflectwith the audience, I feel.
(12:48):
It does because you have fear ofthat happening, but it doesn't
always happen.
And in this film, the lonelinessthat Marc Kerr or Dwayne Johnson
was experiencing was all within.
He was going through because ofthe shame of sharing what he's
going through.
He's lying to everyone, lying tohis best friend.
His best friend sees that and hegoes along with it for a second
(13:10):
and then he pulls him up on hisshit.
SPEAKER_02 (13:12):
That was a brilliant scene.
SPEAKER_03 (13:13):
It was so good.
SPEAKER_02 (13:16):
Something about the smashing machine that I really
love is it gets across thefrustration and the illusion
where when someone's addictedaround you and you're powerless
to get them to stop, but youknow you need them to stop, but
(13:40):
you also don't want to causearguments and conflict with
them.
So you're stuck in this spotwhere you're like, do I tell
them, do I bring the hammer downand that be that disciplinarian
where I say to them, like, whatthe fuck are you doing with your
life?
Or do I just let them be andhope that they wake up one day?
SPEAKER_03 (14:01):
Yeah.
It's a tough decision you gottamake for your friend.
How much am I gonna pull them upon it?
And what's at what cost is gonnabe because you put your
friendship at risk when you dothat?
That said, these were all reallygood things about the film.
Yeah.
Really good thing.
Actually, actually, having seenSpinal Tap before we went to see
this, it's funny because there'sa lot of documentary style
(14:22):
moments in this film as well.
That kind of like was funny tosee that.
With a comedy and with a comedydocumentary scene before, a
rockumentary.
Yeah.
To see a kind of like a bit of adocumentary style elements in
this film, kind of like, ohyeah, they kind of flowed easily
into it.
A lot of incredibly great thingsin this film.
(14:43):
There's just one question I haveto ask.
Why?
Why make this film?
Like the acting is phenomenal.
They told the biography ofMarker phenomenally, and it was
hard-wrenching and hopeful, andan incredible roller coaster of
(15:04):
emotions and uh yeah, of beinggoing through it.
But the question is, what makesthis story so worth telling?
Because it's anticlimactic atthe end, and then in like in the
in the post-sene, the finalscene where you see the real
Marco in 2025, in dialogue issomething told, they're like,
(15:30):
Where the fuck did this comefrom?
Why, why would you fuck up yourlife afterwards?
And it's just given in dialoguein text.
As if it's a happy ending.
As if it's a happy ending.
But it's like, yeah, there's somuch it it's a it's a very
anticlimactic ending with it'spretty credit, but it's a
(15:52):
post-scene that doesn't pay offanything that we've seen in the
film.
It's just Marqueur at theshopping center giving some
information about his later lifein like five sentences that's a
complete twist on how we endedthe film.
So and and and and more, it'sit's it's so anticlimactic that
(16:12):
I'm thinking, why is this storyspecifically worth telling?
And why not tell Mark Coleman'sstory?
I think a few reasons.
Well, he has a happy family theentire way through.
His life is very stable.
He never lost a never never losta match.
Uh he probably has lost a match.
SPEAKER_02 (16:28):
I think I think with Mark Kerr overcoming the opioid
addiction.
Of course.
And you know, staying clean isis a really strong redemption
arc.
Yeah, true.
But I also think it's becauseMark Kerr is so unique and
(16:49):
likable.
The contrast between him beatingthe shit out of guys and being
fucking a smashing machine, amonster in the ring.
But what about Mark Corman?
He he did he was the same.
Yeah, but uh, I think with MarkKerr, there's this interesting
thing of like he can be thefriendliest and nicest guy in
(17:11):
the room, but he can rip yourhead off if you're in the ring
with him.
SPEAKER_03 (17:14):
But isn't Mark Coleman the same?
Look at how he bashed the otherpeople up.
SPEAKER_02 (17:18):
Yeah, but like I think the the human side of Mark
Coleman isn't as unique as MarkKerr uh based on the movie.
SPEAKER_03 (17:28):
Based on a movie, but it's but that's obvious
because it's a lead characterversus.
SPEAKER_02 (17:32):
I don't know enough about the real life Mark
Coleman.
SPEAKER_03 (17:35):
No.
SPEAKER_02 (17:35):
I mean, uh an argument could probably be made
for a lot of other UFC fightersgetting their own film.
Very true.
But perhaps it's because thiswas before UFC was big.
This was in the 90s.
SPEAKER_03 (17:52):
1997 to 2000.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (17:55):
So perhaps it's because they were the pioneers
of jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:01):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (18:02):
And there's that aspect.
Jiu Jitsu.
Yeah, jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:06):
They were wrestling.
SPEAKER_02 (18:07):
Yeah, they were doing jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:09):
Mixed martial arts.
SPEAKER_02 (18:10):
They were doing jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:11):
Oh, what?
SPEAKER_02 (18:12):
They mentioned jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:13):
I thought their opponent was jujitsu.
They he was a wrestler.
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
No, he seemed to always be going against
strikers, I think.
SPEAKER_03 (18:20):
Oh.
I I I remember him sitting inthe uh waiting room talking to
the lady.
But I was like, yeah, it's amixed martial arts, and I'm a
wrestler and I bring thewrestling to it, he said.
SPEAKER_02 (18:28):
Yeah, I I think jujitsu and wrestling have a lot
of commonalities.
I could be wrong, and someone inthe comments will probably rip
my head off for saying this.
You know more about fightingthan I do, so um Nathan will
probably can probably correct mesince he's a jiu-jitsu expert.
Yeah, he does Brazilian jujitsu.
(18:49):
There's a a dojo just here.
I think that the movie wanted tofocus more on Mark Kerr while
having Mark Coleman as a sidecharacter to show the contrast.
Yeah.
But also it's it's strongerbeing with the addict who
overcomes the addiction.
(19:10):
Yeah.
Like you said, Mark Colemanseemed to have a lot more
stability in his life, so maybethey were like not as
interesting.
SPEAKER_03 (19:18):
Don't get me wrong, like the story is fantastic, and
I understand why.
It's just so different to see afilm made with such an
anticlimactic ending.
And it's all about the journeyand not about the not about the
ending.
It's really refreshing to see,but it lead it's built up to
such a climactic ending and itjust doesn't happen.
(19:41):
And it it's weird.
SPEAKER_02 (19:43):
That was I I still am struggling with the ending.
I'll I'll be honest, the endingdidn't click for me.
No.
Like when we were talking aboutit after, I was like, oh yeah,
that shot makes a lot more senseto me now.
I enjoy the message of himaccepting defeat a bit a bit
(20:04):
better, mentally, dealing withdefeat better.
But as far as like why is thisparticular point the endpoint,
the final bow on the story, Idon't know.
SPEAKER_03 (20:20):
Yeah, the final bow is I I don't get it either.
It's nice to see the real markerthat he's doing well and he's
alive and he's happy and he'sstill a nice human being.
But the information that wasgiven in the in the sub in the
in in the titles on the bottomvery confusing as into why that
(20:41):
was necessary.
It's like great story.
SPEAKER_02 (20:43):
I just don't think that point was the point to end
on.
SPEAKER_03 (20:48):
I I have mixed feelings about it.
Because one, what you're sayingI 100% agree with.
It's why make that the cherry ontop of the cake?
If why do you leave us with thatlast note that's a complete 180
on the rest of the story and belike why?
Yeah.
(21:10):
What I do appreciate about it isthat it's truthful to reality,
to the true story.
And I'm like, yeah, realityisn't that pretty.
Reality can be extremelyanticlimactic.
And because there's so manymoments in the film where you're
(21:31):
like, why why why will you dothis?
It's because we're looking at itfrom a film perspective and
expecting like this big arc ofbuilding and and and and and and
yeah, from the whole strawstructure of storytelling.
And it just doesn't tell thestory the same way.
SPEAKER_02 (21:48):
Which, as you said, it could be refreshing, but it
could also be.
SPEAKER_03 (21:52):
Just gotta get your head around.
SPEAKER_02 (21:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (21:54):
It can feel jarring.
And it it did feel jarring.
But not in not in a it wasn'tbad.
Not in a bad way, jarring.
It's just like I just need sometime to process why what the
purpose of it is to leave me, tolet me leave the cinema with
such a feeling, such an ending.
(22:16):
And yeah, still processing it.
It's still sure I'll have adream about it tonight and
tomorrow morning.
Let's do the podcast now.
Yeah, cool.
Because I have another idea.
SPEAKER_02 (22:25):
I have I forgot this point.
Let's redo the podcast.
Yeah, probably.
Is there anything else importantto say about it?
I guess my final like gettinginto the final closing kind of
remarks or my final review onthe smashing machine is it's one
of those movies I felt such afucking relief because the rock
(22:52):
is is like Adam Seandler, wherewe all know that he can act and
he can be really good, but hejust for some reason chooses not
to be.
And now it's like we finallyhave that moment.
We have The Rock doing a filmwhere he gets to show the world
(23:14):
that he can act.
This is like what I alwayswanted since 2002 when The Rock
started acting.
It's like we get those glimpsesof hope, like Gridiron Gang, or
what other films has The Rockdone?
Jimanji?
I don't know.
No, I'm saying like good movie.
(23:36):
I don't know.
Like Gridiron Gang, I meanWalking Talls a bit underrated.
I just loved seeing The Rockstrip away all the the default,
you know, level of charisma thathe has and switching it up, like
talking differently, yeah,moving differently, seeing him
(24:00):
react or handle thingsdifferently than he action movie
rock would.
Yes.
Is just so refreshing.
It's it's like being fed thesame meal.
It's like if you were in prisonand you ate the same meal for
like a month and then youfinally get a different meal.
You're just like, oh my god,this is amazing.
(24:22):
This tastes so much better.
Yeah, that's how I felt thewhole way.
Did I think that would Inecessarily go back and see this
again?
Probably not.
That's a maybe.
SPEAKER_03 (24:36):
I would say a maybe to that, actually.
Just because I don't know.
SPEAKER_04 (24:40):
I think there's a lot of yeah, sorry, keep going.
I before you fucked up my point.
SPEAKER_02 (24:47):
What I do, yeah.
I'd say it's like it's it's likea four out of five for me.
Whereas I really appreciate it.
I I loved the story and whatthey were telling.
I appreciated the acting chopsfrom Emily Blunt and The Rock
and just the sheer will oftrying something completely
(25:12):
different.
I love like with a lot of bios,biopics, I love that after
watching this, I want to gowatch Mark Kerr's fights.
I feel inspired to watch MarkKerr and Mark Coleman's fights
and and see what reallyhappened.
(25:32):
I just don't see myself watchingthis again.
It's like when you watch UncutGems and you're like, wow, this
is amazing.
But the intensity and anxietythat this movie gives me makes
me not want to watch it againfor a long time.
I appreciate it, it's reallygreat, but I'm not gonna want to
(25:52):
watch it for a while.
I do want to watch Uncut Gemsagain, though.
It took me like a couple years,though, before I wanted to watch
Uncut Gems.
Yeah.
I've Uncut Gems is a bit higherup, though.
You reckon I didn't quite likeit, but I'd love to revisit it.
It's a bit more memorable, Ifeel, in its point.
SPEAKER_04 (26:11):
I don't remember much of it.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (26:13):
How long ago did you watch it?
SPEAKER_04 (26:14):
When did it come out?
2020, 2021.
It's about well, about fouryears ago I watched it.
Like shortly after it came out.
SPEAKER_02 (26:22):
I reckon if we watched it again, you'd let's
watch it again.
Yeah, you'd have a newfoundappreciation.
Probably.
It's relevant because the Saftibrothers created that.
Yeah.
But this is Benny Safti that'screated the smashing machine.
He's one of the brothers.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cool.
I don't know the Safety Some.
So you could see somesimilarities there.
Yeah.
(26:43):
In the way they build up tensescenes, let the shots linger a
little bit longer, uncomfortablylonger sometimes.
It's great.
I love that.
Yeah.
What were your what's your finalthoughts on the smashing
machine?
SPEAKER_03 (26:58):
Yeah, like you said, the lingering shots I thought
was really cool because youreally let the tension build,
the question rise on what isgoing on for real.
And I think the questions weresuper clear.
A couple of examples of that waswhen Mark uh has had his first
(27:19):
anger issues where he punchedthe door and ripped the door out
of the wall and then threweverything off the closet onto
the off the bench, onto thefloor, and just became
destructive.
And it's relatable, but you'reyou're just wondering: is this
gonna be a cliche where he'sgoing to turn his anger onto his
(27:39):
partner?
But that question reallylingered.
And I don't know how, but theymanaged to bring that question
back multiple times.
And every time it was just asuper long shot, and you're just
waiting for him to make adecision.
Am I going to hit her or am Inot?
And you really, really, reallyhope that he's not going to be
(28:00):
an idiot to do so.
And and and just the way theyset it up and paid it off every
time is just super clear and madrespect for pushing to go there.
Because you're normally just Ifind with these films, they
really want to cut through thatreal quick to not have such a
topic being part of the film.
SPEAKER_02 (28:19):
It was this great kind of lingering question
throughout because I didn't knowanything about Mark Kerr.
So I was like, oh my god, Ireally hope it doesn't.
Yeah.
Was he a person was he?
Was he a stereotypical, youknow, person that did that?
Yeah.
And I was so relieved when thatdidn't happen.
(28:40):
Because for me, that would havebeen past the point of no
return.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (28:44):
You would have judged a character in a
completely different light.
Yeah.
If he did take that step, andthank fuck he didn't.
SPEAKER_00 (28:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (28:50):
Especially because you know he's such a nice guy.
But because and you know that henever would, but the way the
challenges in his life pushedhim to the edge, he became more
self-destructive thandestructive to others.
It is what men do.
(29:11):
Typically.
Right?
It's typically what men do.
They become more destructivetowards themselves than to
people around them.
Normally, right?
So look at addiction, look atsmoking, look at punching a
wall.
The amount of times you hearguys just punching a wall and
breaking their fists out ofanger is because the they need
to take that.
They need to take that expressthat anger somehow, but they
(29:34):
never they they don't want to dothat to other people.
SPEAKER_00 (29:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (29:38):
Right?
And and you can judge in apositive or negative light,
whatever, it's all psychologicaluh debate.
But it's relatable to, I wouldsay, 99% of all men.
Right?
You have the occasional idiotthat does turn into domestic
violence or violence or sort ofpeople become aggressive.
That's the 1%.
But the other 99% of the people,of men, I think most of them can
(30:01):
identify with this.
And that's what makes it sobeautiful.
SPEAKER_00 (30:04):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (30:04):
Like it's so good.
But also because as much as youhate Emily Blunt, like we said
before, her character.
Her character, sorry, Dawn, andshe did amazing.
Because everybody dislikes herwatching this movie, but you
also you get her too.
You understand that shethroughout the whole movie, she
is a supporting lead.
She's a supporting lead, yet wedon't know her last name.
(30:29):
We know nothing about her.
So from the story side ofthings, we are parallel and
synchronized to the relationshipwhere she is such an important
key character of the whole film.
She's an anchor point to and thekryptonite to Mark Kur's
(30:51):
character to Mark Herr right toDwayne's character.
Yet we don't know nothing abouther.
And neither does Mark.
Yeah.
We don't know, we don't know herlast name.
We know her as Dawn.
That's all we know.
She's not invited to this, she'snot invited to that, and we can
understand why Mark Herr doesn'tinvite her to things because she
is dramatic and wants to make itall about relationship.
(31:13):
And she can be dramatic orunderstandable, but then yeah,
Mark Hurst makes issues aboutlittle things that is an issue
for her, and vice versa.
And it's just a clash of maleand female that is where they're
just missing each other.
Typical, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (31:28):
They just keep missing each other.
SPEAKER_03 (31:29):
And that's why you know why the attractiveness
comes back every time.
And they get keep getting backtogether.
I was going to give the movie afour out of five, but I'm
actually gonna give it a fourand a half out of five.
Oh damn! Yeah the more the morewe're talking about peeling back
the layers more.
Peeling back the layers isthere's so much.
It's a great film.
(31:50):
It's an A24.
Like I saw the trailer a littlebit.
I I never look at trailers, so Ialways switch it or skip it or
just look away.
I just don't want to seetrailers because it gives away
the film.
But I knew Dwayne Rock Johnsonwas in it, and I was I was not
gonna watch this film.
I didn't even remember the titleuntil you said, let's watch this
watch the smashing machine.
It's like, oh sure.
SPEAKER_02 (32:10):
I wasn't I really wanted you to see it because I
had this feeling you were gonnabe like blown away by The Rock's
performance.
SPEAKER_03 (32:19):
Yeah, well, I had zero faith in The Rock, zero,
because I thought he's justgoing to be the same rock as you
see him in every other film.
He's gonna break this macho,whatever, stereotypical
character to it, but he wasphenomenal.
I think there's going to be anOscar contender, as well as from
Emily Blunt, as well as fromDwayne Johnson, for next season.
(32:43):
They're going to be academynominees.
They have to contend.
SPEAKER_02 (32:47):
Honestly, if either of them won, I I wouldn't be
surprised.
I wouldn't I wouldn't be annoyedat all with that decision.
SPEAKER_03 (32:54):
Absolutely.
One thing to note, and I I Ifelt this straight from the
first five minutes of the film.
I didn't want to say anything toyou.
This feels like it's just gonnait's it's it's the similarities.
It's there are similarities.
You grab a wrestler from the90s.
No, the the von Eriks were fromlike the 70s.
(33:16):
70s, whatever.
From the 50s to 2000s, whatever.
You you grab a retired fighteror fighters with a dramatic
story and you tell thebiography.
It's it's it become it'sbecoming a trend.
And I think there's gonna beanother one, right?
SPEAKER_02 (33:29):
I I'm not too sure who else they would cover.
I did see similarities with theironclaw, especially with the
the style, like it's sodifferent though, because
professional wrestling, likethat that style of wrestling is
all about showmanship andflashiness and the audience and
(33:50):
and performance, whereas thiswas all about a guy that can rip
your throat out in real life,but then ask you, like, oh, uh,
are you okay?
Like, oh, did I hit you toohard?
Sorry.
SPEAKER_03 (34:04):
But wasn't isn't Zach Efron the same thing?
I I understand that when he isin the when he's in the ring,
it's about the fight and and andit's a showmanship versus UFC.
But Eric von what was his name?
SPEAKER_02 (34:17):
Kerry von the Von Erich family.
SPEAKER_03 (34:19):
The Von Erich family.
The Von Erik family, yeah,that's right.
Uh the Von Erik family.
It's like what's Zach Efron, helooked like he's gonna rip your
throat out.
Like the guy's just massive,jacked, super high on steroids,
not Zach, but the character, howit looks.
Basically, von Erik version ofHe-Man.
The same thing, super nice guy,innocent, sympathetic, going
(34:41):
through a hell of a situationthrough his life, and you
question where his life is gonnatake.
Is he gonna stay straight or ishe gonna go off path?
And it it's the same storystructure with a different
story, but same structure with aclimax at the end.
SPEAKER_02 (34:58):
I think the Von Eric's that I think Iron the
Ironclaw was a lot more tragic.
SPEAKER_03 (35:05):
It's no, don't get me wrong, it's a lot more
tragic, but there's still true.
Similarities in thesimilarities.
It's it I'm just saying it's atrend.
Yeah.
And I hope it doesn't getoverdone.
I hope it's not gonna getoverdone because this film was
amazing.
Ironclaw was amazing, and Ireally don't hope they're gonna
do another one where Jason Momoais gonna do the next one.
(35:25):
For example, right?
Mike Tyson or something likethat.
Yeah, for example.
SPEAKER_02 (35:30):
That would yeah, that would be a tough one
though.
SPEAKER_03 (35:32):
Mohammed Ali, they're gonna do something like
that.
They've already done MuhammadAli.
Oh, there you go.
SPEAKER_02 (35:36):
Bill Smith played Ali.
SPEAKER_03 (35:37):
When was this?
Long time ago.
2001.
2001 sure, whatever.
That's a standard alone movie,but I hope this is not going to
become a trend.
Because this feels like Iinclude this success.
Let's make another one.
That's how it felt.
And I hope I'm wrong, but that'swhat my inkling that I have an
inkling that that tells me thatthat is the case behind the
production of this film.
And I really hope I'm wrong,because this movie is fantastic
(36:00):
and I don't want to takeanything away from it, but I
hope that the success of thisfilm, and I don't know if it's
successful or not, is going toinspire more wrestling bio
biopics.
SPEAKER_02 (36:11):
Well, uh biopics in general, I think there is an
influx of biopics now.
SPEAKER_03 (36:18):
There is an influx of unoriginal content.
Yeah.
There's not there's almostnothing original out there.
unknown (36:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (36:25):
I'll leave that at that bit.
What I was gonna say is likebefore before you interrupted me
and fucked my train of thoughts.
Oh just to bring it back.
Is that annoying?
Just to reflect back on what yousaid.
No, no, no.
As soon as I found out it waswhat the Smashing Machine is and
it's Dwayne DeRock Johnson, Ihad no faith in the film
(36:48):
whatsoever.
Because I thought it was gonnabe just a character writing.
SPEAKER_02 (36:51):
And he are giving the movie a higher rating than
me.
SPEAKER_03 (36:54):
Well, hey, hey, before you fuck my train of
thoughts.
As soon as A24 came on thescreen, I was intrigued.
Okay.
Because A24 is not they theythey do different stuff, they do
break the trend of Hollywood.
SPEAKER_02 (37:09):
Yeah, and they clearly did.
Yeah, you're not gonna see A24presents Fast and Furious 15.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (37:16):
They're they're A24, I'll I love they have some hit
and misses, but they've alwaysbeen they they built themselves
up, themselves up from a smallproduction company that went out
there and they just made itmassive with films that are
daring.
Yeah.
I remember like uh Civil War.
It's A24.
Yep.
Midsummer was back in the day.
(37:38):
Fucking hated Midsummer.
Sure, you can you can hate it orlike it.
It's it's it's a different stylemovie, but it was good.
Like it's daring, it'sdifferent.
Wait, was Salt Boone?
SPEAKER_02 (37:47):
Saltburn was good.
I mean it was fucked up, but itseems like something that would
A24 would make.
It's not an A24.
SPEAKER_03 (37:56):
Oh The Lobster?
SPEAKER_04 (37:57):
I fucking hated that.
Again, different though.
Uh The Smashing Machine,Midsummer.
Oh, Hereditary?
That was an 18.
I haven't had a chance to saythat.
SPEAKER_03 (38:06):
Oh, Heretic.
Heretic.
SPEAKER_04 (38:08):
That's the real one you're talking about.
SPEAKER_03 (38:09):
Heretic, the one that just came out with um Hugh
Grant.
SPEAKER_04 (38:11):
With Hugh Grant.
SPEAKER_03 (38:12):
Yep.
Materialists, I haven't seenthat one.
Everything, everywhere, all atonce.
SPEAKER_02 (38:17):
Oh, yeah, that was a perfect day to read a four film.
SPEAKER_03 (38:19):
Yeah, so I'm gonna give it a four and a half out of
five.
SPEAKER_02 (38:21):
I thought it was really good.
I'm gonna give it four rockbottoms out of five.
That is our review of thesmashing machine.
But let us know what did youthink of the smashing machine?
Are you gonna watch it or areyou gonna skip it?
What are your thoughts?
Comment below and let us know.
Until next time, that's us,guys, and this is movies worth
(38:45):
seeing.
Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of
Movies Worth Seeing.
Today's episode, we're gonnatalk about the smashing machine,
starring Dwayne the Rack Janssenand Emily Blunt.
Yeah.
She's just such a great actress,man.
She's just so fucking good.
(00:50):
She's just so fucking good as anactress.
Just her performance in this isjust what did you think of the
movie?
I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (01:04):
Was there a movie playing?
I was just looking at EmilyBlunt.
Fuck you, John Krasinski.
Wow.
No, okay.
So yeah, Emily Blunt wasabsolutely amazing.
But she is always amazing.
Yeah.
I've never seen a movie where Iwas disappointed with her
(01:26):
performance.
However, The Rock.
The Rock is different.
I don't like what he normallydoes, but he was unrecognizable
in this film.
SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
Not just physically with the I mean visually with
the prosthetics.
It does help.
It definitely does.
Like just being able to see thelike knowing it's the rock, but
also not like I feel theprosthetics helps him to strip
away his generic kind offlatline level of acting, right?
(01:59):
Like he can't he can't scrape bybecause he's playing a real
person now.
Yeah.
And no one in the comments daresay that General Hobbs from Fast
of Furious is a real person, orhe's not a fucking character.
It's just The Rock.
It's just The Rock being like,this is me when I'm invincible
(02:22):
because I'm the rack and I'malways invincible and I can beat
everyone, including Ben Diesel.
So fuck yeah.
It wasn't like that.
You know what the hardest thing,the the biggest challenge for
The Rock must have been in thismovie?
Playing a character that fuckingloses a match, that loses a
fight.
So remember that used to be awhole contract clause for him.
(02:43):
Was it?
Yeah, he couldn't lose fights.
SPEAKER_03 (02:46):
I I had no idea.
SPEAKER_02 (02:48):
It was a clause, yeah, apparently.
I'm not into the wrestlingstuff.
No, no, no, for the movie stuff,not wrestling.
The movie stuff.
Yeah, like him Fast andFurious's stuff.
There was a clause where like hecouldn't lose a fight or look
bad in fights.
Really?
Yeah.
unknown (03:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (03:03):
Part of his marketing campaign sort of
thing, as as establishing asit's got to be the the Arnold
Schwarzenegger of the 2010s orthe 2020s, I guess I should say.
And there you go.
So that that was probably thebiggest acting challenge for him
having to lose a fight and bedefeated.
But yeah, getting back to likeMark Kerr, holy shit, this guy
(03:26):
is a fucking very interestingfighter because he has such a
likable, sympathetic side tohim.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (03:35):
Very it's it the thing I loved about the movie so
much was that, like you'resaying, he is such a nice,
sympathetic, empathetic guy witha gen genuine good heart, pushed
into places where thatpersonality is really
challenged.
Yeah.
And I really like that.
(03:56):
It hits some really deep parts,like is in in so many different
types or moments in the story,he gets challenged in so many
ways, right?
SPEAKER_02 (04:04):
Especially when he's having these these moments of
conflict with his wife, withEmily Blunt's character and
dawn.
Where you're just like, oh mygod, he's gonna lose his shit.
But the the the interest, the inthe most engaging part for me is
seeing him like bubbling underthe surface.
Not not just the explosion thatyou know is coming, yeah, but
(04:28):
everything under the surface.
SPEAKER_03 (04:30):
And I feel like the beautiful thing he made with
with that is that he has becomesuch a relatable character for
young men or adult men, just menin general.
Because every man wants to benice, they want to be genuine,
they want to make the decisionsthat support their partner,
wants to support their career.
(04:50):
Whereas they put career as theirmain focus and thinking that
that will solve all the problemsin life.
Which it clearly doesn't, butthat's what, from the male
perspective, it's generalconsensus, right?
Whereas from the female, it'smore about the relationship.
Relationship is more importantthan anything.
Like I had a lot of these issueswith AJ, for example, and that's
(05:11):
why that whole relationshipstoryline, the B storyline, was
so for me, it cut really deepbecause it's exactly what I went
through with AJ.
Was that for the woman of the inin the couple, in the family,
it's relationship is the mostimportant.
Career comes second.
For the man And creating thefamily, and creating the family,
all the kind of stuff, butrelationship-wise, creating the
(05:34):
family.
Whereas for the man, it'screating a financial stability,
creating career, and that waybuild the family.
And that clashes so often, andthe way they depicted that in
this film, it was just spot on.
And I think it's so relatablefor everybody watching this
film, as well from the maleperspective as well as from the
female perspective, because youcan see the imperfection in both
(05:56):
characters, and you can seewhere it clashes, though she you
can see in the first half wherehe fucked up a lot of things,
yeah.
And then he it went 180 and shewas the one going fucking crazy.
SPEAKER_02 (06:10):
But I guess from both sides, you understand their
point of view of they're they'rejustified in their actions and
they feel justified in thedecisions they make.
SPEAKER_03 (06:22):
Like I so I can understand their points of view,
but there wasn't like exactlywhat you're saying, because like
there was a point in theirheightened moment of the fight,
just before she disappears onthe screen, before the climax of
their relationship, when shemakes one statement that he took
her on so well, she says, andand we're on his side, and she
(06:43):
says, You don't know anythingabout me.
And then we realize as much aswe're siding with him, it's
like, yeah, you're right.
We we don't know anything abouther.
And you can see in Dwayne'seyes, in Mark Kerr's eyes, that
she's right.
SPEAKER_02 (06:59):
But she's also like poking the bear.
SPEAKER_03 (07:02):
She is poking the bear and a half, 100%.
That's why we're siding withhim.
Yeah.
But when she says that, we dotake a moment and we sit with
him for a second before he sayshis next line.
SPEAKER_02 (07:12):
Yeah, there's almost an irony where the the for me,
the the scenes between the therock and Emily Blunt were so
much more intense andentertaining than the fight
scene.
SPEAKER_03 (07:28):
Yes.
Because every fight scene openedthe exact same way.
SPEAKER_02 (07:33):
Yeah, takedown.
Oh, boom.
And then at one point, I waslaughing because you know, Mark
Kerr goes for a takedown on oneof his opponents.
He lets the opponent up, andthen he just takes him in down
again.
And I was like, yeah, well, thatguy had no kind of defense
around his uh jujitsu backgroundat all.
(07:57):
But one thing I was so hookedwith Emily Blunt and and The
Rock, and one scene inparticular, I was literally just
like fucking grabbing.
In the climactic scene of therelationship.
I was just like, holy shit, thisis going, this is going down,
(08:19):
and I did not see it coming.
And that was one of thosefucking heart-wrenching moments
for me.
There was a few reallyheart-wrenching moments, yeah.
So they brought it.
Emily Blunt and The Rock,amazing chemistry.
Killed it.
Keep putting them in moviestogether.
Ryan Bader.
Right, Mark Coleman.
SPEAKER_03 (08:41):
What kind of performance did he put down?
This guy's not an actor.
This guy's a UFC fighter.
SPEAKER_02 (08:46):
I never once questioned that until you told
me he he has that he's a UFCfighter.
Right.
There was not one moment where Iwas like, this guy's acting
doesn't really seem at the samelevel.
There was no contrast.
He didn't stand out for thewrong reasons.
He totally belonged.
(09:07):
He totally belonged.
SPEAKER_03 (09:08):
Absolutely.
And and but the thing I reallyliked about his acting is it was
super sincere.
Yeah.
It wasn't acting, it was being.
It was being truthful in themoment.
And it's just okay, what hereminded me of was a new actor
in the industry that justgraduated from an acting school
(09:32):
and was just excited to bethere.
And every aspect of hischaracter that you could see was
genuine.
He was excited to be there.
He was happy, it was exploring,and there wasn't an arrogance of
like, I know what I'm doing, I'mconfident.
Whereas with Dwayne Rock Johnsonand Emily Blunt, you kind of
have that feeling.
It's like cool that you can seepast that their character, past
(09:56):
their acting, and you can seethe confidence that they're
carrying themselves with, whichis attractive to look at, but
it's you see every main actor dothat.
And this was kind of like anunderdog.
It's like this guy is like, Ikind of want to watch this guy
because it's just sincere, it'struthful, he's not overdoing
anything, he doesn't carryhimself with so much confidence
that it becomes arrogant, thatit becomes this guy believes he
(10:20):
deserves his place on thescreen.
This guy wants his place on thescreen.
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
So you you felt he had a selflessness about him
where he was completely inservice of the story.
Absolutely, and was just happyto be there to do his part.
SPEAKER_03 (10:36):
Absolutely, and that's what I'm saying.
He he reminds me of an actorwho's doing a short film for
free because he has a love forthe craft.
SPEAKER_02 (10:44):
He probably felt being a UFC fighter, he probably
felt like I want, I reallyrespect the sport since I'm part
of the sport, and this is mixedmartial arts being shown on the
big screen.
This is our chance to beappreciated and recognized.
He probably felt like a badge ofhonor in a way of like I'm gonna
(11:07):
show everyone what this sport isreally about to the mainstream
audience.
Absolutely.
And for that, he he brought it,man.
Like his his bromance, MarkColeman's bromance with Mark
Kerr, is like the ultimatebromance of like two guys that
are genuine friends, and there'sno jealousy, there's no
(11:30):
conflict, they always got eachother's backs in the best way
possible.
Probably the healthy one of thehealthiest friendships I've ever
seen on screen.
SPEAKER_03 (11:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:40):
And knowing that it's a a real life friendship
that it's based on.
SPEAKER_03 (11:46):
It didn't follow any normal Hollywood film structure
where they have to break therelationship, they have to fight
against each other, andtherefore they're gonna have
this competitive thing going onbetween them.
They were like, no, we're gonnafight, and the best one's gonna
win.
And I'm just excited to fight tospar with you.
Yeah, there was never abreakdown of relationship, they
were always there for eachother, and it was always the
(12:06):
best friend with no issues inbetween.
And it was just a nice anchorpoint in the film, something you
could hold on to.
You know, like no matter where,how bad his life is gonna get,
Mark Coleman is always gonna bethere for Marker.
Yeah.
And I don't remember seeing afilm do that in a long time
because that is real life.
(12:28):
And in real life, you have abest friend, no matter how
shit's how shit, how bad shitgets, that best friend is gonna
be there for you.
And every other film, they haveto make it a little bit more
dramatic and cause like a riftof relationship and get the
character to feel loneliness.
And it it just doesn't reflectwith the audience, I feel.
(12:48):
It does because you have fear ofthat happening, but it doesn't
always happen.
And in this film, the lonelinessthat Marc Kerr or Dwayne Johnson
was experiencing was all within.
He was going through because ofthe shame of sharing what he's
going through.
He's lying to everyone, lying tohis best friend.
His best friend sees that and hegoes along with it for a second
(13:10):
and then he pulls him up on hisshit.
SPEAKER_02 (13:12):
That was a brilliant scene.
SPEAKER_03 (13:13):
It was so good.
SPEAKER_02 (13:16):
Something about the smashing machine that I really
love is it gets across thefrustration and the illusion
where when someone's addictedaround you and you're powerless
to get them to stop, but youknow you need them to stop, but
(13:40):
you also don't want to causearguments and conflict with
them.
So you're stuck in this spotwhere you're like, do I tell
them, do I bring the hammer downand that be that disciplinarian
where I say to them, like, whatthe fuck are you doing with your
life?
Or do I just let them be andhope that they wake up one day?
SPEAKER_03 (14:01):
Yeah.
It's a tough decision you gottamake for your friend.
How much am I gonna pull them upon it?
And what's at what cost is gonnabe because you put your
friendship at risk when you dothat?
That said, these were all reallygood things about the film.
Yeah.
Really good thing.
Actually, actually, having seenSpinal Tap before we went to see
this, it's funny because there'sa lot of documentary style
(14:22):
moments in this film as well.
That kind of like was funny tosee that.
With a comedy and with a comedydocumentary scene before, a
rockumentary.
Yeah.
To see a kind of like a bit of adocumentary style elements in
this film, kind of like, ohyeah, they kind of flowed easily
into it.
A lot of incredibly great thingsin this film.
(14:43):
There's just one question I haveto ask.
Why?
Why make this film?
Like the acting is phenomenal.
They told the biography ofMarker phenomenally, and it was
hard-wrenching and hopeful, andan incredible roller coaster of
(15:04):
emotions and uh yeah, of beinggoing through it.
But the question is, what makesthis story so worth telling?
Because it's anticlimactic atthe end, and then in like in the
in the post-sene, the finalscene where you see the real
Marco in 2025, in dialogue issomething told, they're like,
(15:30):
Where the fuck did this comefrom?
Why, why would you fuck up yourlife afterwards?
And it's just given in dialoguein text.
As if it's a happy ending.
As if it's a happy ending.
But it's like, yeah, there's somuch it it's a it's a very
anticlimactic ending with it'spretty credit, but it's a
(15:52):
post-scene that doesn't pay offanything that we've seen in the
film.
It's just Marqueur at theshopping center giving some
information about his later lifein like five sentences that's a
complete twist on how we endedthe film.
So and and and and more, it'sit's it's so anticlimactic that
(16:12):
I'm thinking, why is this storyspecifically worth telling?
And why not tell Mark Coleman'sstory?
I think a few reasons.
Well, he has a happy family theentire way through.
His life is very stable.
He never lost a never never losta match.
Uh he probably has lost a match.
SPEAKER_02 (16:28):
I think I think with Mark Kerr overcoming the opioid
addiction.
Of course.
And you know, staying clean isis a really strong redemption
arc.
Yeah, true.
But I also think it's becauseMark Kerr is so unique and
(16:49):
likable.
The contrast between him beatingthe shit out of guys and being
fucking a smashing machine, amonster in the ring.
But what about Mark Corman?
He he did he was the same.
Yeah, but uh, I think with MarkKerr, there's this interesting
thing of like he can be thefriendliest and nicest guy in
(17:11):
the room, but he can rip yourhead off if you're in the ring
with him.
SPEAKER_03 (17:14):
But isn't Mark Coleman the same?
Look at how he bashed the otherpeople up.
SPEAKER_02 (17:18):
Yeah, but like I think the the human side of Mark
Coleman isn't as unique as MarkKerr uh based on the movie.
SPEAKER_03 (17:28):
Based on a movie, but it's but that's obvious
because it's a lead characterversus.
SPEAKER_02 (17:32):
I don't know enough about the real life Mark
Coleman.
SPEAKER_03 (17:35):
No.
SPEAKER_02 (17:35):
I mean, uh an argument could probably be made
for a lot of other UFC fightersgetting their own film.
Very true.
But perhaps it's because thiswas before UFC was big.
This was in the 90s.
SPEAKER_03 (17:52):
1997 to 2000.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (17:55):
So perhaps it's because they were the pioneers
of jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:01):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (18:02):
And there's that aspect.
Jiu Jitsu.
Yeah, jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:06):
They were wrestling.
SPEAKER_02 (18:07):
Yeah, they were doing jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:09):
Mixed martial arts.
SPEAKER_02 (18:10):
They were doing jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:11):
Oh, what?
SPEAKER_02 (18:12):
They mentioned jujitsu.
SPEAKER_03 (18:13):
I thought their opponent was jujitsu.
They he was a wrestler.
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
No, he seemed to always be going against
strikers, I think.
SPEAKER_03 (18:20):
Oh.
I I I remember him sitting inthe uh waiting room talking to
the lady.
But I was like, yeah, it's amixed martial arts, and I'm a
wrestler and I bring thewrestling to it, he said.
SPEAKER_02 (18:28):
Yeah, I I think jujitsu and wrestling have a lot
of commonalities.
I could be wrong, and someone inthe comments will probably rip
my head off for saying this.
You know more about fightingthan I do, so um Nathan will
probably can probably correct mesince he's a jiu-jitsu expert.
Yeah, he does Brazilian jujitsu.
(18:49):
There's a a dojo just here.
I think that the movie wanted tofocus more on Mark Kerr while
having Mark Coleman as a sidecharacter to show the contrast.
Yeah.
But also it's it's strongerbeing with the addict who
overcomes the addiction.
(19:10):
Yeah.
Like you said, Mark Colemanseemed to have a lot more
stability in his life, so maybethey were like not as
interesting.
SPEAKER_03 (19:18):
Don't get me wrong, like the story is fantastic, and
I understand why.
It's just so different to see afilm made with such an
anticlimactic ending.
And it's all about the journeyand not about the not about the
ending.
It's really refreshing to see,but it lead it's built up to
such a climactic ending and itjust doesn't happen.
(19:41):
And it it's weird.
SPEAKER_02 (19:43):
That was I I still am struggling with the ending.
I'll I'll be honest, the endingdidn't click for me.
No.
Like when we were talking aboutit after, I was like, oh yeah,
that shot makes a lot more senseto me now.
I enjoy the message of himaccepting defeat a bit a bit
(20:04):
better, mentally, dealing withdefeat better.
But as far as like why is thisparticular point the endpoint,
the final bow on the story, Idon't know.
SPEAKER_03 (20:20):
Yeah, the final bow is I I don't get it either.
It's nice to see the real markerthat he's doing well and he's
alive and he's happy and he'sstill a nice human being.
But the information that wasgiven in the in the sub in the
in in the titles on the bottomvery confusing as into why that
(20:41):
was necessary.
It's like great story.
SPEAKER_02 (20:43):
I just don't think that point was the point to end
on.
SPEAKER_03 (20:48):
I I have mixed feelings about it.
Because one, what you're sayingI 100% agree with.
It's why make that the cherry ontop of the cake?
If why do you leave us with thatlast note that's a complete 180
on the rest of the story and belike why?
Yeah.
(21:10):
What I do appreciate about it isthat it's truthful to reality,
to the true story.
And I'm like, yeah, realityisn't that pretty.
Reality can be extremelyanticlimactic.
And because there's so manymoments in the film where you're
(21:31):
like, why why why will you dothis?
It's because we're looking at itfrom a film perspective and
expecting like this big arc ofbuilding and and and and and and
yeah, from the whole strawstructure of storytelling.
And it just doesn't tell thestory the same way.
SPEAKER_02 (21:48):
Which, as you said, it could be refreshing, but it
could also be.
SPEAKER_03 (21:52):
Just gotta get your head around.
SPEAKER_02 (21:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (21:54):
It can feel jarring.
And it it did feel jarring.
But not in not in a it wasn'tbad.
Not in a bad way, jarring.
It's just like I just need sometime to process why what the
purpose of it is to leave me, tolet me leave the cinema with
such a feeling, such an ending.
(22:16):
And yeah, still processing it.
It's still sure I'll have adream about it tonight and
tomorrow morning.
Let's do the podcast now.
Yeah, cool.
Because I have another idea.
SPEAKER_02 (22:25):
I have I forgot this point.
Let's redo the podcast.
Yeah, probably.
Is there anything else importantto say about it?
I guess my final like gettinginto the final closing kind of
remarks or my final review onthe smashing machine is it's one
of those movies I felt such afucking relief because the rock
(22:52):
is is like Adam Seandler, wherewe all know that he can act and
he can be really good, but hejust for some reason chooses not
to be.
And now it's like we finallyhave that moment.
We have The Rock doing a filmwhere he gets to show the world
(23:14):
that he can act.
This is like what I alwayswanted since 2002 when The Rock
started acting.
It's like we get those glimpsesof hope, like Gridiron Gang, or
what other films has The Rockdone?
Jimanji?
I don't know.
No, I'm saying like good movie.
(23:36):
I don't know.
Like Gridiron Gang, I meanWalking Talls a bit underrated.
I just loved seeing The Rockstrip away all the the default,
you know, level of charisma thathe has and switching it up, like
talking differently, yeah,moving differently, seeing him
(24:00):
react or handle thingsdifferently than he action movie
rock would.
Yes.
Is just so refreshing.
It's it's like being fed thesame meal.
It's like if you were in prisonand you ate the same meal for
like a month and then youfinally get a different meal.
You're just like, oh my god,this is amazing.
(24:22):
This tastes so much better.
Yeah, that's how I felt thewhole way.
Did I think that would Inecessarily go back and see this
again?
Probably not.
That's a maybe.
SPEAKER_03 (24:36):
I would say a maybe to that, actually.
Just because I don't know.
SPEAKER_04 (24:40):
I think there's a lot of yeah, sorry, keep going.
I before you fucked up my point.
SPEAKER_02 (24:47):
What I do, yeah.
I'd say it's like it's it's likea four out of five for me.
Whereas I really appreciate it.
I I loved the story and whatthey were telling.
I appreciated the acting chopsfrom Emily Blunt and The Rock
and just the sheer will oftrying something completely
(25:12):
different.
I love like with a lot of bios,biopics, I love that after
watching this, I want to gowatch Mark Kerr's fights.
I feel inspired to watch MarkKerr and Mark Coleman's fights
and and see what reallyhappened.
(25:32):
I just don't see myself watchingthis again.
It's like when you watch UncutGems and you're like, wow, this
is amazing.
But the intensity and anxietythat this movie gives me makes
me not want to watch it againfor a long time.
I appreciate it, it's reallygreat, but I'm not gonna want to
(25:52):
watch it for a while.
I do want to watch Uncut Gemsagain, though.
It took me like a couple years,though, before I wanted to watch
Uncut Gems.
Yeah.
I've Uncut Gems is a bit higherup, though.
You reckon I didn't quite likeit, but I'd love to revisit it.
It's a bit more memorable, Ifeel, in its point.
SPEAKER_04 (26:11):
I don't remember much of it.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (26:13):
How long ago did you watch it?
SPEAKER_04 (26:14):
When did it come out?
2020, 2021.
It's about well, about fouryears ago I watched it.
Like shortly after it came out.
SPEAKER_02 (26:22):
I reckon if we watched it again, you'd let's
watch it again.
Yeah, you'd have a newfoundappreciation.
Probably.
It's relevant because the Saftibrothers created that.
Yeah.
But this is Benny Safti that'screated the smashing machine.
He's one of the brothers.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cool.
I don't know the Safety Some.
So you could see somesimilarities there.
Yeah.
(26:43):
In the way they build up tensescenes, let the shots linger a
little bit longer, uncomfortablylonger sometimes.
It's great.
I love that.
Yeah.
What were your what's your finalthoughts on the smashing
machine?
SPEAKER_03 (26:58):
Yeah, like you said, the lingering shots I thought
was really cool because youreally let the tension build,
the question rise on what isgoing on for real.
And I think the questions weresuper clear.
A couple of examples of that waswhen Mark uh has had his first
(27:19):
anger issues where he punchedthe door and ripped the door out
of the wall and then threweverything off the closet onto
the off the bench, onto thefloor, and just became
destructive.
And it's relatable, but you'reyou're just wondering: is this
gonna be a cliche where he'sgoing to turn his anger onto his
(27:39):
partner?
But that question reallylingered.
And I don't know how, but theymanaged to bring that question
back multiple times.
And every time it was just asuper long shot, and you're just
waiting for him to make adecision.
Am I going to hit her or am Inot?
And you really, really, reallyhope that he's not going to be
(28:00):
an idiot to do so.
And and and just the way theyset it up and paid it off every
time is just super clear and madrespect for pushing to go there.
Because you're normally just Ifind with these films, they
really want to cut through thatreal quick to not have such a
topic being part of the film.
SPEAKER_02 (28:19):
It was this great kind of lingering question
throughout because I didn't knowanything about Mark Kerr.
So I was like, oh my god, Ireally hope it doesn't.
Yeah.
Was he a person was he?
Was he a stereotypical, youknow, person that did that?
Yeah.
And I was so relieved when thatdidn't happen.
(28:40):
Because for me, that would havebeen past the point of no
return.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (28:44):
You would have judged a character in a
completely different light.
Yeah.
If he did take that step, andthank fuck he didn't.
SPEAKER_00 (28:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (28:50):
Especially because you know he's such a nice guy.
But because and you know that henever would, but the way the
challenges in his life pushedhim to the edge, he became more
self-destructive thandestructive to others.
It is what men do.
(29:11):
Typically.
Right?
It's typically what men do.
They become more destructivetowards themselves than to
people around them.
Normally, right?
So look at addiction, look atsmoking, look at punching a
wall.
The amount of times you hearguys just punching a wall and
breaking their fists out ofanger is because the they need
to take that.
They need to take that expressthat anger somehow, but they
(29:34):
never they they don't want to dothat to other people.
SPEAKER_00 (29:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (29:38):
Right?
And and you can judge in apositive or negative light,
whatever, it's all psychologicaluh debate.
But it's relatable to, I wouldsay, 99% of all men.
Right?
You have the occasional idiotthat does turn into domestic
violence or violence or sort ofpeople become aggressive.
That's the 1%.
But the other 99% of the people,of men, I think most of them can
(30:01):
identify with this.
And that's what makes it sobeautiful.
SPEAKER_00 (30:04):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (30:04):
Like it's so good.
But also because as much as youhate Emily Blunt, like we said
before, her character.
Her character, sorry, Dawn, andshe did amazing.
Because everybody dislikes herwatching this movie, but you
also you get her too.
You understand that shethroughout the whole movie, she
is a supporting lead.
She's a supporting lead, yet wedon't know her last name.
(30:29):
We know nothing about her.
So from the story side ofthings, we are parallel and
synchronized to the relationshipwhere she is such an important
key character of the whole film.
She's an anchor point to and thekryptonite to Mark Kur's
(30:51):
character to Mark Herr right toDwayne's character.
Yet we don't know nothing abouther.
And neither does Mark.
Yeah.
We don't know, we don't know herlast name.
We know her as Dawn.
That's all we know.
She's not invited to this, she'snot invited to that, and we can
understand why Mark Herr doesn'tinvite her to things because she
is dramatic and wants to make itall about relationship.
(31:13):
And she can be dramatic orunderstandable, but then yeah,
Mark Hurst makes issues aboutlittle things that is an issue
for her, and vice versa.
And it's just a clash of maleand female that is where they're
just missing each other.
Typical, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (31:28):
They just keep missing each other.
SPEAKER_03 (31:29):
And that's why you know why the attractiveness
comes back every time.
And they get keep getting backtogether.
I was going to give the movie afour out of five, but I'm
actually gonna give it a fourand a half out of five.
Oh damn! Yeah the more the morewe're talking about peeling back
the layers more.
Peeling back the layers isthere's so much.
It's a great film.
(31:50):
It's an A24.
Like I saw the trailer a littlebit.
I I never look at trailers, so Ialways switch it or skip it or
just look away.
I just don't want to seetrailers because it gives away
the film.
But I knew Dwayne Rock Johnsonwas in it, and I was I was not
gonna watch this film.
I didn't even remember the titleuntil you said, let's watch this
watch the smashing machine.
It's like, oh sure.
SPEAKER_02 (32:10):
I wasn't I really wanted you to see it because I
had this feeling you were gonnabe like blown away by The Rock's
performance.
SPEAKER_03 (32:19):
Yeah, well, I had zero faith in The Rock, zero,
because I thought he's justgoing to be the same rock as you
see him in every other film.
He's gonna break this macho,whatever, stereotypical
character to it, but he wasphenomenal.
I think there's going to be anOscar contender, as well as from
Emily Blunt, as well as fromDwayne Johnson, for next season.
(32:43):
They're going to be academynominees.
They have to contend.
SPEAKER_02 (32:47):
Honestly, if either of them won, I I wouldn't be
surprised.
I wouldn't I wouldn't be annoyedat all with that decision.
SPEAKER_03 (32:54):
Absolutely.
One thing to note, and I I Ifelt this straight from the
first five minutes of the film.
I didn't want to say anything toyou.
This feels like it's just gonnait's it's it's the similarities.
It's there are similarities.
You grab a wrestler from the90s.
No, the the von Eriks were fromlike the 70s.
(33:16):
70s, whatever.
From the 50s to 2000s, whatever.
You you grab a retired fighteror fighters with a dramatic
story and you tell thebiography.
It's it's it become it'sbecoming a trend.
And I think there's gonna beanother one, right?
SPEAKER_02 (33:29):
I I'm not too sure who else they would cover.
I did see similarities with theironclaw, especially with the
the style, like it's sodifferent though, because
professional wrestling, likethat that style of wrestling is
all about showmanship andflashiness and the audience and
(33:50):
and performance, whereas thiswas all about a guy that can rip
your throat out in real life,but then ask you, like, oh, uh,
are you okay?
Like, oh, did I hit you toohard?
Sorry.
SPEAKER_03 (34:04):
But wasn't isn't Zach Efron the same thing?
I I understand that when he isin the when he's in the ring,
it's about the fight and and andit's a showmanship versus UFC.
But Eric von what was his name?
SPEAKER_02 (34:17):
Kerry von the Von Erich family.
SPEAKER_03 (34:19):
The Von Erich family.
The Von Erik family, yeah,that's right.
Uh the Von Erik family.
It's like what's Zach Efron, helooked like he's gonna rip your
throat out.
Like the guy's just massive,jacked, super high on steroids,
not Zach, but the character, howit looks.
Basically, von Erik version ofHe-Man.
The same thing, super nice guy,innocent, sympathetic, going
(34:41):
through a hell of a situationthrough his life, and you
question where his life is gonnatake.
Is he gonna stay straight or ishe gonna go off path?
And it it's the same storystructure with a different
story, but same structure with aclimax at the end.
SPEAKER_02 (34:58):
I think the Von Eric's that I think Iron the
Ironclaw was a lot more tragic.
SPEAKER_03 (35:05):
It's no, don't get me wrong, it's a lot more
tragic, but there's still true.
Similarities in thesimilarities.
It's it I'm just saying it's atrend.
Yeah.
And I hope it doesn't getoverdone.
I hope it's not gonna getoverdone because this film was
amazing.
Ironclaw was amazing, and Ireally don't hope they're gonna
do another one where Jason Momoais gonna do the next one.
(35:25):
For example, right?
Mike Tyson or something likethat.
Yeah, for example.
SPEAKER_02 (35:30):
That would yeah, that would be a tough one
though.
SPEAKER_03 (35:32):
Mohammed Ali, they're gonna do something like
that.
They've already done MuhammadAli.
Oh, there you go.
SPEAKER_02 (35:36):
Bill Smith played Ali.
SPEAKER_03 (35:37):
When was this?
Long time ago.
2001.
2001 sure, whatever.
That's a standard alone movie,but I hope this is not going to
become a trend.
Because this feels like Iinclude this success.
Let's make another one.
That's how it felt.
And I hope I'm wrong, but that'swhat my inkling that I have an
inkling that that tells me thatthat is the case behind the
production of this film.
And I really hope I'm wrong,because this movie is fantastic
(36:00):
and I don't want to takeanything away from it, but I
hope that the success of thisfilm, and I don't know if it's
successful or not, is going toinspire more wrestling bio
biopics.
SPEAKER_02 (36:11):
Well, uh biopics in general, I think there is an
influx of biopics now.
SPEAKER_03 (36:18):
There is an influx of unoriginal content.
Yeah.
There's not there's almostnothing original out there.
unknown (36:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (36:25):
I'll leave that at that bit.
What I was gonna say is likebefore before you interrupted me
and fucked my train of thoughts.
Oh just to bring it back.
Is that annoying?
Just to reflect back on what yousaid.
No, no, no.
As soon as I found out it waswhat the Smashing Machine is and
it's Dwayne DeRock Johnson, Ihad no faith in the film
(36:48):
whatsoever.
Because I thought it was gonnabe just a character writing.
SPEAKER_02 (36:51):
And he are giving the movie a higher rating than
me.
SPEAKER_03 (36:54):
Well, hey, hey, before you fuck my train of
thoughts.
As soon as A24 came on thescreen, I was intrigued.
Okay.
Because A24 is not they theythey do different stuff, they do
break the trend of Hollywood.
SPEAKER_02 (37:09):
Yeah, and they clearly did.
Yeah, you're not gonna see A24presents Fast and Furious 15.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (37:16):
They're they're A24, I'll I love they have some hit
and misses, but they've alwaysbeen they they built themselves
up, themselves up from a smallproduction company that went out
there and they just made itmassive with films that are
daring.
Yeah.
I remember like uh Civil War.
It's A24.
Yep.
Midsummer was back in the day.
(37:38):
Fucking hated Midsummer.
Sure, you can you can hate it orlike it.
It's it's it's a different stylemovie, but it was good.
Like it's daring, it'sdifferent.
Wait, was Salt Boone?
SPEAKER_02 (37:47):
Saltburn was good.
I mean it was fucked up, but itseems like something that would
A24 would make.
It's not an A24.
SPEAKER_03 (37:56):
Oh The Lobster?
SPEAKER_04 (37:57):
I fucking hated that.
Again, different though.
Uh The Smashing Machine,Midsummer.
Oh, Hereditary?
That was an 18.
I haven't had a chance to saythat.
SPEAKER_03 (38:06):
Oh, Heretic.
Heretic.
SPEAKER_04 (38:08):
That's the real one you're talking about.
SPEAKER_03 (38:09):
Heretic, the one that just came out with um Hugh
Grant.
SPEAKER_04 (38:11):
With Hugh Grant.
SPEAKER_03 (38:12):
Yep.
Materialists, I haven't seenthat one.
Everything, everywhere, all atonce.
SPEAKER_02 (38:17):
Oh, yeah, that was a perfect day to read a four film.
SPEAKER_03 (38:19):
Yeah, so I'm gonna give it a four and a half out of
five.
SPEAKER_02 (38:21):
I thought it was really good.
I'm gonna give it four rockbottoms out of five.
That is our review of thesmashing machine.
But let us know what did youthink of the smashing machine?
Are you gonna watch it or areyou gonna skip it?
What are your thoughts?
Comment below and let us know.
Until next time, that's us,guys, and this is movies worth
(38:45):
seeing.
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