A popular criticism I’ve heard about “The Smashing Machine” is that it tries too hard to subvert expectations. I assume that this is a reference to the way the film follows mixed martial artist Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson) on his journey not to a major win, but to his first professional loss. The film is building to a milestone in Kerr’s life that may not be pleasant, but is undeniably important. But I came out of the film more concerned about another expectation the film subverted: the expectation that it not put me to sleep.

The film opens in 1997 with Kerr’s professional debut in a tournament in Brazil. College prodigy Kerr is a hulking, polished beast who makes short work of his shlubby opponents to win the tournament. He goes on to enjoy success in the early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship before finding steady work in Japan’s Pride promotion. And he never experiences a loss. He tells an interviewer that he can’t even wrap his head around the concept of a loss. The easy joke would be to say that he can’t wrap his head around a lot of things, but I’ll be nice and say that he means this as a motivational tactic.

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In between fights, we learn about Kerr’s personal life. He has a girlfriend named Dawn (Emily Blunt) and a best friend in fellow fighter Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader). He also has a drug problem, with an addiction to prescription painkillers. Perhaps more alarmingly, he has emotional and psychological issues. He’s liable to break things when angry, as one might expect, but he’s also likely to break down crying, which might be another one of those expectations that the film subverts. When it seems he’s lost a fight midway through the film, he undignifiedly (though not without a legitimate point) complains about the officiating until the loss is taken off his record.

The film builds to the biggest tournament of Kerr’s life at the 2000 Pride Grand Prix. Will he earn yet another win and the all-important first loss will come later? Will he lose to his opponent from the controversial earlier fight? Will he lose to Coleman, who has been on a hot streak lately? Or will he lose to some presumed jobber in the first round? It’s possible, given how distracted he is over a fight with Dawn. It was an incredibly stupid fight and I’ve never been more sure that a character holding a gun isn’t going to fire it, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone had a serious breakdown over something stupid.

At the center of the film is Johnson’s performance, which has been built up as Oscar-worthy. It’s… fine. He’s obviously put a lot of discipline into the physical aspects of the role (he’s more buff here than he ever was in his WWE days), and he’s willing to go to places emotionally that he doesn’t usually go in his more popcorn-y fare. But I don’t see an Oscar in Johnson’s future here, for two reasons. 1) the movie has been a disappointment at the box office, whether or not it’s fair to blame that Taylor Swift “launch party” for stealing its audience, and 2) the movie is incredibly boring.

How did a movie that takes place in the bone-crunching world of MMA, starring an actor as exciting as Dwayne Johnson, and directed by Benny Safdie, one half of the team that brought us the 135-minute anxiety attack that was “Uncut Gems” get to be so boring? That’s the subversion of expectations that kills this movie, not anything it does with the story, but just the insistence that Mark Kerr is so inherently interesting that it’s a treat to see him so much as get groceries. “The Smashing Machine” was clearly made by people with a lot of reverence for Kerr, but the movie doesn’t make me see why I should have the same reverence.

Grade: C

“The Smashing Machine” is rated R for language and some drug abuse. Its running time is 123 minutes.

Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.