Already unrecognizable from his first A24 production as former UFC fighter Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie’s ‘The Smashing Machine’, Dwayne Johnson is now lauded for his acting chops.
In just the last few weeks, Kerr’s closest companion and training partner, former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman, has been praising ‘The Rock’ for his performance in the movie.
Over the last few years, Johnson’s filmography has come under criticism for revolving too much around the actor and not so much around the story of the characters he plays he them. With ‘The Smashing Machine’, Johnson seems to have taken his first major steps to address those criticisms.
Now that the trailer has been released, it seems all that effort is finally paying off.
Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, who watched it, claimed that “It almost looks like an Indie film, I like that A24.”
His co-host then chimed in, claiming that A24 doesn’t put too much money into the production of the film and focuses more on the storytelling, which has “forced” ‘The Rock’ to focus on his acting prowess.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is nearly unrecognizable as real-life UFC fighter Mark Kerr: pic.twitter.com/8t2r8hH4C8
— IGN (@IGN) May 3, 2025
“This acting looked amazing, I think it looks great, I’m more excited about it now,” Serra added, however disappointed that the movie’s October release date couldn’t come sooner.
This is in tune with what Johnson himself had told the media as the news of his new project broke. “I’m at a point in my career where I want to make films that matter, that explore a humanity and explore struggle [and] pain,” he had noted.
It certainly seems to have paid off.
Serra also compared it to the documentary surrounding Kerr’s life, named ‘The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr‘, which was also used as a reference while filming the movie.
The former UFC champ called the documentary a work of art and said that if the movie is anywhere near as good, it will do well in the theatres.
But there’s an entirely different reason why Serra is excited for the movie. He believes it will give fans a different perspective on a combat sport athlete’s life.
The Smashing Machine made Serra emotional
Kerr’s story is one of extreme highs and lows, from being at the top of this sport to facing a sharp decline on account of substance abuse and recurring injuries.
But all that is a part of a combat sport athlete’s life, not the substance abuse, but injuries, inconsistency, the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows.
Since his retirement from the sport, Kerr has spent a lot of time talking about his experiences and educating people on the ill effects of opioid addiction.
In a similar interview, the former UFC fighter even spoke about the reasons he was taking opiates.
“The expectation that I have to perform at this level, regardless. And then the training to perform at this level. And then when those two came together, it just created a storm where I am like, ‘I don’t have time. What’s a shortcut? Well, I can mask the pain,” he said.
“So this tough guy mentality, when I get in it, I am just going to push ahead… It’s kind of stupid,” Kerr admitted.
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According to Serra, the movie will do a good job of showing fans this side of the sport, “What got me emotional about it, when he’s talking about the highs of it and this and that, because I know all that. Not a lot of people get to experience that and it’s crazy.”
Comparing it to an almost ‘gladiatorial’, primal feeling that words can not describe, Serra hopes that the fans can get a glimpse of a fighter’s life through this film.
