The Smashing Machine

Yeah, life is meaningless, but it gets way worse if you are submitting your body and mind to senseless, constant beating for a couple of grand to pay your bills. Good portrait about the start/early days of something, in this case a brutal combat sport still lacking in rules to protect its fighters years before its heyday, when any regular member would earn millions. Johnson is very good as a gentle giant struggling to balance his bumpy personal life -- evidently not his priority -- and the hardships of a job that takes a toll on him every day. Guess this failed to become a hit due to Safdie's choice to avoid easy emotional moments in favor of poignant character development -- not always engrossing, mind you -- and details that might interest only sports fans -- well, at least until the film's GOAT moment, the Jungleland scene.