For a long time, there has been a meme that asks, “Can you name the Dwayne Johnson movie from the Dwayne Johnson picture?” However, each image—which comes from a separate movie—shows him wearing cargo pants, an off-white shirt with the top button unfastened, and that eyebrow exposed. The joke is that The Rock plays the same character and has the same appearance in all of his roles. The Smashing Machine, however, is come to challenge that idea. In his most recent movie, Johnson collaborates with Benny, one of the Safdie brothers, on a gritty, tough A24 film that explores the ascent of UFC fighter Mark Kerr.
Wow. Whose bingo card said, “The Rock goes full Raging Bull” in 2025? This appears to be as powerful and captivating as you could expect from a new Safdie song, even from just one of the brothers. Josh is also going solo this year with Marty Supreme, who stars Timothée Chalamet. After the similarly great Good Time, the Safdies offered us Uncut Gems six years ago, thus The Smashing Machine is eagerly awaited in many respects.
With Johnson playing a real character opposite powerhouse Emily Blunt for what may be the first time since Southland Tales (with due respect to Dwayne’s full-length blockbuster fare), there is a lot to be thrilled about. Despite that celebrity duo, this is not “Jungle Cruise 2.” To be quite clear, no.
Stay tuned for more on the UK release of The Smashing Machine, which is an A24 release in the US, which is scheduled to open in theaters in early October. However, that puts it in the running for an Oscar. The competition for the small gold statue of The Rock starts here.