Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is an enigma.
From 2021-24, he starred in four live-action feature films. The first in that span, “Jungle Cruise,” was a serviceable Disney movie based on the Walt Disney World ride. The other three were less-than impressive, including “Red Notice” in 2021, “Black Adam” in 2022 and “Red One” in 2024.
Johnson is currently one of the biggest names in Hollywood. A National Research Group survey from February 2025 asked which actors brought people into theaters, and Johnson finished third behind Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise. It’s an interesting result given his recent films largely flopped at the box office.
With the release of his fifth live action role since 2021, “The Smashing Machine,” Johnson has done what some wondered he would ever be able to do.
He starred in a good movie — and his acting is worthy of awards recognition.
Which begs the question: why wasn’t “The Rock” doing this before when he’s more than capable?
"The Smashing Machine” is Benny Safdie’s first feature film as a solo director after directing five films with his brother Josh, including “Uncut Gems.” The movie is a flawed but interesting opening film for Safdie, who also wrote, produced and edited it. But at the end of the day, it’s Johnson’s performance that I’ll remember above anything else the movie presents.
Mark Kerr (Johnson), a mixed martial arts fighter from the late 1990s, is the center of the biopic, which is based on the 2002 documentary “The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.” Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt) and Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader) provide supporting roles to the depiction of Kerr’s life, bringing conflict and comfort to the story.
Throughout the film, Safdie asks a lot from Johnson and his character. Physical acting through MMA fights; dramatic acting with shouting matches alongside Blunt; and the drastic shift from Johnson’s usual charismatic portrayal to a complicated fighter battling people and addiction.
Johnson excels at it all.
I'll be frank — my knowledge of his roles is limited. But I’ve seen enough to confidently say this portrayal is the best of his filmography, and it’s not particularly close.
As for the other aspects of the movie, it’s an interesting watch. The documentary-style filmmaking provides a raw look into Kerr’s life, but some moments and sequences are a little slow, just as any documentary might be.
The flip side are the sequences of action and vulnerable moments that give Johnson his time to shine. Sure, watching him make a smoothie with one and a half bananas is fine, but it’s the scenes with Blunt, Bader or even just Johnson by himself that make his performance stand out.
So where has this version of Johnson been? Oscar buzz is real for this performance, and considering Johson’s last live action feature was “Red One” — both a box office and critical flop — it’s astonishing to see the 180-degree flip.
Though it will likely be a tough group of best actors this year during awards season, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet and Daniel Day-Lewis all releasing films, I think Johnson has a real shot at winning the award should he be nominated. It may be a once-in-a-lifetime performance for The Rock — that is, unless he can sustain the success and become the serious actor he’s shown he clearly can be.
