Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, known more for flexing than dramatic depth, has finally premiered The Smashing Machine, directed by Benny Safdie, at the Venice Film Festival. And in a surprising turn of events, it's not a new Fast & Furious sequel or superhero flick where he out-biceps a CGI monster. This time, it's a serious role, which, let's be honest, is as rare as a quiet moment in a Dwayne Johnson film.
Benny Safdie collapses into tears during the 15-minute #Venezia2025 standing ovation for ‘The Smashing Machine.’ pic.twitter.com/UaogVSyYeySeptember 1, 2025
As per Venice tradition, the film was met with an awkwardly long standing ovation. We're talking more than just polite applause; probably enough time for The Rock to squeeze in a quick workout. But more importantly, the reviews are in, and it's a knockout. Rotten Tomatoes currently boasts an 89% score from 18 reviews, with many critics praising the former WWE superstar's surprisingly nuanced performance.
The movie dives into Mark Kerr's incredibly fast rise during the wild early days of UFC and PRIDE, all while showing his tough battles with opioid addiction, mental health, and a messy personal life. Johnson, looking totally different thanks to amazing prosthetics by Oscar-winning Kazu Hiro, plays Kerr with a surprising amount of raw emotion, a side we don't often see in his big action flicks. Emily Blunt joins the fun as Kerr's partner, Dawn Staples.
The Independent gave the film four out of five stars, stating, "Safdie is forcing one of Hollywood’s most popular mainstream stars to grapple with parts of his personality that are usually left untouched. Johnson gives a performance of immense pathos, intensity and depth – one that looks bound to win him awards recognition.”
The Guardian were not quite as hot on the film, only giving it three stars and describing it as “a solid bro drama for the UFC fanbase and maybe a little way beyond” before going onto “add The film does not really permit the various emotional crises and issues to supersede the importance of fighting all that much, and the fighting itself is not transformed or transfigured in the drama.”
Whilst The Telegraph also gave the film four stars, claiming that “Dwayne Johnson sheds his daft image in a muscle movie with a soft heart”. One thing’s for certain: this is a new high for Johnson
While Johnson has undeniably smashed his way to Hollywood stardom with roles ranging from muscle-bound action hero to muscle-bound action hero who can also sing to a fish, his dramatic chops have historically been... well, let's just say Daniel Day-Lewis isn't losing sleep.
It seems The Smashing Machine might just be the film that finally gets critics to stop mentioning his name in the same breath as a very large, charismatic boulder and earn him recognition with awards and cinephiles alike.
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