THE UNFORGETTABLE TRUE STORY OF A UFC LEGEND.

Sooner or later, you reach that stage when you’ve made more action-comedies than you can count, and start looking for something meatier.

In Dwayne Johnson’s case it’s a biography from the earliest days of UFC, playing Mark Kerr as he aimed for success as an MMA star while also battling addiction and fighting with the woman (Emily Blunt) he loved.

Johnson is convincing, and so is the ambitious, realistic recreation of the UFC atmosphere at the time… but the drama is underwhelming. 

2025-U.S. 123 min. Color. Written, directed and edited by Benny Safdie. Cast: Dwayne Johnson (Mark Kerr), Emily Blunt (Dawn Staples), Ryan Bader (Mark Coleman), Bas Rutten, Oleksandr Usyk, Satoshi Ishii.

Trivia: Co-produced by Johnson and Safdie. Rutten plays himself. Kerr was also depicted in a 2002 documentary bearing the same title.

Venice: Best Director.