The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr

In The Smashing Machine, director John Hyams strips the surface off of Mark Kerr, showing his inner turmoil and humanity. The documentary starts with Kerr’s voice-over, explaining what it’s like to get hit in the face; on the screen, there’s slow motion footage of Kerr in the ring, giving a non-fan a faint idea of mixed martial arts. From there, the camera follows him day-to-day, through his troubled life. Estranged from his family in Toledo, Ohio, all Kerr really has is Dawn, his girlfriend, and as the movie progresses, even that relationship remains shaky. There’s also the issue of Kerr’s painkiller abuse – after years of collecting injuries, Kerr injects opiates, rather than listening to his body and letting it fully  recuperate.

In this regard, he seems like a figure ripe for collapse – he’s never lost a mixed martial arts match, he earns a substantial amount of money in front of Pride’s huge Japanese audience, and his drug habit slowly becomes all the more serious. Then, overweight and ill-prepared, he meets Igor Vovchanchyn in the ring, and it doesn’t matter if two illegal knees to head knocked Kerr out. It doesn’t matter if the results were nullified as a “No Contest.” Finally, he’d met somebody he couldn’t dominate, and his poor performance sends him reeling – Kerr nearly dies from an overdose, and afterwards, he checks into rehab.

At this point, the camera changes subject, focusing on Kerr’s friend, Mark Coleman. At the time, he’s also going through a dry spell. Like Kerr, he too was once on top of the world, but a pummeling by Maurice Smith in the UFC changed that. Still, Coleman has a wife and two daughters to support. Once Pride offers him a chance to fight again, he takes it, hoping to reestablish his reputation. The same goes for Kerr, once clean and out of the hospital – the only problem, however, is that they may be forced to face each other in Pride’s 2000 Grand Prix tournament.

In this sense, The Smashing Machine tells the classic sports tale of falling from grace and seeking redemption. It’s a very human story fraught with emotion, which is way this documentary can appeal to just about anyone, even outside the mixed martial arts world. It takes a very non-judgmental approach to its subject matter, letting Kerr and Coleman speak for themselves. The documentary hardly imposes the director’s opinion, but rather just captures these people in their everyday interactions. So, mostly, the camera crew almost seems invisible, incognito.

As a DVD, The Smashing Machine comes with plenty of extras. The deleted scenes are very interesting, even if they don’t fit into the greater scope of the documentary. Here, a viewer gets to meet, ever so briefly, a young Ricco Rodriguez. Plus, there’s footage of one of Ricco’s early King of the Cage matches.

Plus, an included short feature, Fight Day, tries to capture Renzo Gracie’s personality. In this film, a viewer gets to meet Renzo’s wife and children. Plus, Renzo sifts through pictures and comments about his family’s vast history. Fight footage shows an early Brazilian vale tudo match, as well as Pride bout. As a bonus separate of Fight Day, Hyams includes Renzo’s quick disposal of Oleg Taktarov.

On the whole, The Smashing Machine, and all the extras, should have a place in any fan’s DVD library. It’s more than just Mark Kerr’s story -- it’s a stark reminder that fighters are human beings with lives, dreams, and complications away from the sport.

The Smashing Machine rates 5 out of 5.