During his speech at last year’s SAG Awards, Timothée Chalamet declared he was pursuing recognition as one of the greats. Just over a year later, he has shown he is on the right track with Josh Safdie’s remarkable sports film Marty Supreme. In fact, it is a role that feels so tailor-made for him that he may as well have already been in character at the award show.
Set in early 1950s New York and loosely inspired by table tennis legend Marty Reisman, Marty Supreme tells the story of Marty Mauser, a 23-year-old table tennis prodigy and a young man with such a powerful level of self-confidence that it does not so much border on narcissism as barrel directly into it.
Despite his immense talent, he suffers a humiliating loss in a tournament final to talented Japanese competitor Koto Endo (real-life table tennis pro Koto Kawaguchi). Thus, Marty embarks on what is pretty much an odyssey throughout New York in order to get a rematch in Japan and to prove his self-proclaimed status as the world’s best table tennis player, no matter who he has to manipulate or screw over to do so.
“It isn’t an understatement to say that Timothée Chalamet delivers the performance of his career here.”
In comparison to brother Benny’s solo debut, The Smashing Machine, a few months ago, Josh Safdie’s directorial work on Marty Supreme fits much more closely alongside the style of the duo’s previous films like Uncut Gems and Good Time. It helps that the film retains many of Safdie’s main collaborators, like co-writer Ronald Bronstein, Uncut Gems cinematographer Darius Khondji and composer Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never).
From the moment the film opens with its jaw-droppingly unhinged opening credits sequence, the movie never stops putting its foot on the gas and never lets up. As in his other films, Safdie immediately thrusts you into Marty’s world, and you are placed in near-constant stress from the increasingly chaotic arguments and situations Marty finds himself in.
The moment you believe he is finally on his way back to his path to glory, something happens that crashes his hopes back down to reality. On one hand, you are frustrated by how often Marty ropes his loved ones into these doomed schemes and leaves them to deal with the consequences. On the other hand, you also find yourself buying into his single-minded determination simply because of the sheer audacity of some of the things he says. (In one scene, during an interview, Marty calls himself “the ultimate product of Hitler’s defeat.”)
“Marty Supreme is so funny, so grimy, so kinetic and so wildly entertaining that I left the theatre in a daze that lasted for hours after the film ended.”
It isn’t an understatement to say that Timothée Chalamet delivers the performance of his career here. A lightning rod of pure charisma from beginning to end, there isn’t a single moment on screen where he isn’t anything less than captivating. Chalamet also gives Marty enough humanity to make Marty’s arrogance not just palatable but downright lovable.
Credit must also be given to the film’s energetic supporting cast. Tyler, the Creator is hilarious in his acting debut as Marty’s close friend Wally. Gwyneth Paltrow delivers her strongest acting showcase in decades as an aging movie star whom Marty becomes romantically involved with. Legendary neo-noir director Abel Ferrara gives a memorable turn as a mark who is more dangerous than he appears.
And, as much as I hate to say it, even the easily dislikeable Kevin O’Leary gives a fantastic performance as an equally dislikeable businessman who sees the financial potential in a Mauser–Endo rematch. However, the film’s biggest revelation comes from Odessa A’Zion as Marty’s longtime friend and secret lover Rachel. In fact, A’Zion nearly steals the entire show when she takes on a larger role during the latter half of the film.
Never did I think a movie ostensibly about ping-pong could be this nerve-racking. Marty Supreme is so funny, so grimy, so kinetic and so wildly entertaining that I left the theatre in a daze that lasted for hours after the film ended. It is easily one of the best films of the year.
