Director Christopher Nolan fully supported Dwayne Johnson’s role in Smashing Machines, calling the performance “heartbreaking” and one of the best of the year. Despite the film’s poor performance at the box office, it received massive support.
Director Nolan’s review: “Incredible acting”
Nolan didn’t mention Johnson’s portrayal of MMA legend Mark Carr during an interview with Smashing Machine director Benny Safdie on the Director’s Cut podcast. Director Nolan said, “I think it was a great performance.” “I don’t think we’ll see a better performance this year or any other year.”
Oppenheimer and the Inception filmmakers also praised Safdie’s film itself, saying, “Congratulations on completing the film. It’s a truly remarkable and radical piece of work that will become more and more understood as time goes on. We’re so proud to have known you.”
There was also room for a little chat. Nolan teased Safdie about recruiting for Oppenheimer, in which he plays Hungarian-American theoretical physicist Edward Teller. “I heard a rumor that you were supposed to be learning your lines on my set, but you were actually recruiting people to be in your movie,” he joked to Safdie. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but it seems to have worked out well for you.”
Awards buzz and box office reality
A dramatic pivot that generated early awards buzz, Johnson’s performance is central to the film, which tracks Kerr’s professional peaks and troughs, struggles with substance abuse, and tumultuous marriage to Dawn (Emily Blunt). Safdie won the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival and received positive reviews, with the film currently holding a 70% critic score and 76% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite this, it failed to gain commercial traction, grossing $5.9 million in the United States (the lowest domestic start of Johnson’s career) and has grossed $11 million domestically and $18 million worldwide to date, unimpressive numbers against a reported production budget of $50 million.
Johnson’s response: Take control of your work.
After the soft opening, Johnson shared a thoughtful, process-first approach to what can and cannot be controlled. “In our world of storytelling, you can’t control box office results. But what you can control is your performance and your determination to completely disappear and go somewhere else. And I will always run towards that opportunity,” he wrote on social media.
“It was an honor to transform into this role for my director, Benny Safdie. Thank you, brother, for believing in me. The truth is, this movie changed my life. With deep gratitude, respect, and radical empathy, DJ.”
big picture
Between Nolan’s public salute, Safdie’s Venice win, and solid words from critics and audiences, Smashing Machine sits in a difficult space where praise and turnout aren’t quite in sync, at least not yet. If Nolan’s predictions come true, the film’s harrowing intimacy and Johnson’s transformation could mean it’s a film that grows over time, backed by supporters inside and outside the industry.
