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Showing posts with label Benny Safdie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benny Safdie. Show all posts

Monday, October 6, 2025

MOVIE REVIEW: THE SMASHING MACHINE

 






















MMA fighter Mark Kerr reaches the peak of his career but faces personal hardships along the way.

Director: Benny Safdie

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, Oleksandr Usyk

Release Date: October 3, 2025

Genre: Action, Biography, Drama, History, Sport

Rated R for language and some drug abuse.

Runtime: 2h 3m

Review:

Benny Safdie's, The Smashing Machine, has a different ebbs and flow than most sports biopics which gives it a distinctive but uneven feel that keeps us at arm’s length from Mark Kerr despite strong turns from Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. There's a sense of melancholy that hovers over the entire film even as Kerr becomes a champion and deals with opioid addiction.  The first half of the film feels similar to Mike Figgis' Leaving Las Vegas, especially if you have no familiarity with Kerr's story beforehand as we watch him put his body through the ringer to become a champion.  There's something oddly sanitized about it all as we are never given any sort of insight into his struggle until much later on in the film.  Dwayne Johnson's performance has a measured intensity behind his determination to excel but the script never gives him many moments to really dig into the psyche of the man.  Only a small moment at a demolish derby gives us the slightest bit of insight into his internal machination and the film could have used more of them.  Johnson, to his credit, delivers his most focused performance that really shows he's capable of so much more than his standard fare.  The film gives him a showcase to deliver something more subtle in his acting which makes it all the more frustrating that the script doesn't give him something more interesting to work with.  Emily Blunt is in the same boat as she delivers excellent work as Kerr's acidic, passive aggressive girlfriend who becomes steadily more unstable and biting.  They share a sequence in the latter part of the film that allows both of them to shine which leaves you wishing the story had taken advantage of their chemistry earlier on.  Mixed martial artist, Ryan Bader, proves to be the biggest surprise as he delivers a rather tender and thoughtful turn as Kerr's best friend and fellow competitor Mark Coleman.  There's an unspoken bond that comes through when Bader and Johnson share the screen together which gives their relationship an authentic connection.  By the time it’s all said and done, The Smashing Machine, becomes just as much a story of Coleman's career resurrection as it does Kerr's which likely would have worked better overall for the story's focus.  

B-

Monday, December 27, 2021

MOVIE REVIEW: LICORICE PIZZA

 




















Alana Kane and Gary Valentine grow up, run around and fall in love in California's San Fernando Valley in the 1970s.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie

Release Date: November 26, 2021

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Rated R for language, sexual material and some drug use.

Runtime: 2h 13m

Review:

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza is the type of film where the plot is secondary as it focused more on capturing a time period’s feel and essence.   While the film is very much set in the 70’s it does manage to capture something timeless about the random adolescent adventures that nearly everyone experienced growing up.  The central romance of the film is rather chaste onscreen but still a bizarre choice since it’s made explicit multiple times that Cooper Hoffman’s Gary Valentine is underage as he pursues Alana Haim’s 25-year-old Alana Kane.  It’s a distracting choice that detracts from the two linchpin performances from Haim and Hoffman who both bring an unmistakable on-screen charisma and chemistry to their role.  Both actors deliver nuanced turns that are never showy or over the top but ultimately serve as the heart of the film as we follow their series of adventures in San Fernando Valley.  They are fascinating to watch together onscreen because they both carrying an air of authenticity.  Hoffman captures the character’s hustler mentally while Haim does equally impressive work portraying her character’s state of arrested development as she tries to find her place in the world.  Famous faces pop up in small supporting turns with Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper each having a ball in their limited screen time.  Anyone unfamiliar with Paul Thomas Anderson’s style might not like the pacing which isn’t in any rush to get anywhere even if the two central characters run quite a bit throughout.  Licorice Pizza will connect with some people more than others depending on personal experiences but there is something universal about the moments it captures. 

B+

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