It’s hard to say writer-director Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine is bad. It’s certainly well-made. It also sounds amazing. Most importantly, it features a genuinely outstanding lead performance from Dwayne Johnson in what is probably his best and most interesting role ever. But it’s impossible to say The Smashing Machine is good. It’s masquerading as a brutal, honest, raw story about a world-class athlete struggling with addiction, co-dependence, and the desperate need to win. What it actually is an empty, frustrating hagiography.

The Smashing Machine follows MMA legend Mark Kerr from 1997 to 2000, which are the early, controversial days of what is now a billion dollar industry. Despite him beginning his mixed martial arts career during this period, he’s already addicted to p

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