The Smashing Machine:

This film stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt.  Johnson portray Mark Kerr, a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter in the early days from 1997 until three years later.   Kerr was a well decorated NCAA wrestler but what does one do once that is over?   For Kerr it meant pumping up, drugging up, getting massive and training to develop more fighting skills.   In North America we knew the Octagon with the UFC brand.   It was brutal with bare fists and almost no rules.   In this film we see that a rival league in Japan paid fighters called Pride.   They set up matches in arenas in Tokyo and then broadcast the matches.  From what we learned in this film, the fighters were paid very little.   This is also a relationship story about Mark and his girlfriend Dawn. 

There are a few ways to look upon this relationship. For me I see a couple that like many have challenges but they work through them. I can also see the supportive woman living with a man using steroids which is known to make them hyper-angry with a very short fuse. Then there is the toxic relationship where people who obviously shouldn’t be together keep finding ways to return even though one of them knows it’s not in their best interest. What I can say is that I am surprised that the real Dawn would be pleased with the way that her character is written and acts. Emily Blunt is too talented an actress to be playing this role. Neither of these characters is very likeable with fighting their own demons. The overall message seems to be that there were early pioneers in this barbaric sport which craves blood and knockouts over health for the participants. I have to admit that the final act and conclusion surprised me. I had not followed this fighting nor knew any of the names involved. In early release buzz there was talk about awards. I think people were more surprised by the physical transformation of Johnson, who was already very big, into how he looked at the Festivals.

In the end I was not moved by it.  I was disappointed in the final resolution and felt that there was an element of “settling” where one or both parties gives up something that they value and may later regret or have built up resentment.  This was more a physical challenge for Johnson and didn’t utilize Blunt’s ample acting skills. So I would not suggest spending your time on it.

Queen of Chess:

Netflix has just released a documentary about a woman from the world of chess.  I grew up in the 70s, and I have spent most of my life around a world class chess player in my step-father.  I also had a Dad who followed Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky matches.  There was always a chess board around and rainy days at the cottage we could play.  Chess was followed and written about.  But then it went quiet.  

It was generally accepted in a male dominated sport that women could not excel in chess. There was some nonsense believed about “killer instinct” and “mental acumen”. Early on we see the three sisters represent Hungary at the Chess Olympiad in women’s category that had been dominated for decades by the Soviets/Russians. Judit won every match that she played. They ended up winning the gold medal. From black sheep to champions. Moving ahead into the 1990s we see Judit winning more but striving to become a Grandmaster. Chess players have a scoring system and at 2500 you are that title. The youngest grandmaster had previously been Bobby Fischer at age 15 years and 6 months. Judit wanted the title. The rest of the story shows her matches against World Champion and personality Garry Kasparov. He was her idol. It is amazing to think about playing an intense game of chess for over 6 hours. I really liked seeing too that she remained grounded and fell in love and kept her number 1 world ranking the whole time. Asking her at the end whether she liked being part of her father’s experiment she pauses. How can she answer that? It is all she knows. Chess has given her everything in her life. Chess allowed her to travel out of Hungary at a young age when outside travel wasn’t permitted. She played 15 matches against arguably the best chess player ever. I would say that her life shows ground-breaking commitment to excellence at the highest level while remaining true to your family, your sisters and your husband. I recommend this highly.

But I also wonder, where has the chess coverage gone? Why do we not hear about the Chess Olympiad or other tournaments referenced here? Chess has indeed become a younger sport with the youngest Grandmaster now being around 12yo. It’s shocking really. But you don’t hear about big matches with interesting personalities. That is too bad because this is a game of the ages that is accessible to all.