‘Marty Supreme’ Review

By Nadia Dalimonte

Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme

In Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme, Marty Mauser (played by an astounding Timothée Chalamet) wants to rule the world. Marty’s New York City dream is to become the greatest table tennis player of all time. With a relentless optimism and uncompromising attitude, he sets off on a gripping journey in pursuit of greatness. He goes to hell and back on a globe-trotting high horse. He’s bratty, arrogant, and believes he has his dream all figured out. It’s this romantic belief that leads Marty to true perspective in the real world, where every setback serves him one wake-up call after another. Chalamet bursts onto the screen like a wrecking ball, destroying anything and anyone that doesn’t serve a purpose on Marty’s ambitious path. And yet, you can’t help but respect the hustle, especially in a film that builds towards a fully earned emotional breakthrough for its titular player. As expected with Safdie’s signature frenetic style, Marty Supreme spikes your heart rate and fully delivers on an exhilarating adrenaline rush. Though, Safdie throws in a surprising curveball that softens the blows and paints Marty’s journey in a stunning new light. Putting full weight behind the tagline, “Dream big,” Marty Supreme inspires you to persevere.

We meet Marty in New York City in 1952, selling shoes at his uncle’s store on the Lower East Side. Marty has the confidence of a good salesman; to paraphrase a line of dialogue in the film, he could sell shoes to an amputee (a tame juvenile note compared to the abrasive comments he lets roll off the tongue later on). Marty knows his strengths, but an average managerial promotion is not his path. He won’t let his future be decided by a family business. Marty dreams big… “on the cover of a Wheaties box” kind of big. Stuck in a loop of unfulfilled desires and unmet expectations, he pitches his aspirations to everybody around him who will (often begrudgingly) listen. While no one takes him seriously, and they chuckle at the thought of ping-pong even being considered a real sport, Marty’s drive continues to ascend. Dodging his mother Rebecca (Fran Drescher) and his married girlfriend Rachel (Odessa A’zion), Marty jumps through one capitalist hoop after another as he lies his way to the big leagues. 

This story of a young man chasing a thrill is right up Josh Safdie’s alley. From Connie Nikas (Robert Pattinson)’s neon-soaked scamming in Good Time, to young-at-heart Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler)’s deadly gambling in Uncut Gems, these characters are always one step ahead…in their minds. Marty Mauser operates in a similar lightning speed — we can’t catch up to him until his journey’s end, where the real world awaits with a hearty serving of humble pie. Though, Marty Supreme accelerates past the bleak conclusions of Safdie’s previous features and radiates the optimism of the American Dream. To reach that point, the film puts Marty through his own personal hell of failure and humiliation. Safdie and his longtime co-writer Ronald Bronstein find an electric narrative in the personal and professional costs of Marty’s conviction. Whenever an opportunity arises, like chance encounters with Hollywood star Kay Stone (a luminous Gwyneth Paltrow) and her wealthy jerk of a husband, Milton Rockwell (a suitably cast Kevin O’Leary), the question is always, what will Marty risk? How far is he willing to go? Playing ball with Marty’s forward-thinking attitude and youthful limitations, Safdie captures a futuristic nostalgia. 

Marty Supreme layers a 1950s story with 1980s music, and casts 90s icons alongside the bright young stars of today, creating a timeless story. The titular role needed the energy of a dreamer ahead of his time. An actor fiercely committed to his work who can also pass for a punk kid figuring things out on the fly. Enter Timothée Chalamet, a generational talent whose career ambitions have been leading up to a character like Marty Mauser. He’s been carrying Marty energy in his bones for years, whether by practice (secretly playing table tennis on other film sets) or through his movie star presence (pursuing greatness in his SAG Award speech for A Complete Unknown). One can draw several parallels between Chalamet and Marty (Chalamet’s promotion for the film makes a lot more sense with this character as the context). They’re both ambitious at heart, and Marty Supreme seems a lot closer to home (Chalamet grew up in NYC), and yet, it’s every bit as transformative a role as his previous work.

When you want to be one of the greats, you draw inspiration from the greats. Chalamet followed up his brief role in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and his big break in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name with one prolific role after another: Laurie in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films, Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown. He wants to be viewed among the greatest actors in the world, standing alongside the legends who came before. Marty, meanwhile, uses himself as a sole reference point for greatness. He wants to become the greatest table tennis player in the world, full stop. This line drawn between the star and the character is what allows Chalamet to strike a believable chord as arrogant, yet humbled to be here.

It’s an isolating path to chase your dreams in tunnel vision and without a moral compass. When in London for a tournament, in which Marty competes against Koto Endo (played by real-life table tennis champion Koto Kawaguchi), Marty’s biggest concern is accommodations. He is so offended by sharing a room with other players and standing alongside them, that he convinces the tournament organizers to put him up in a fancy hotel instead. It’s this level of entitlement that propels Marty forward. A consummate conman, he lies and steals his way to raise flight money for the Japan Championships, burning just about every bridge along the way. In spite of the character’s unpleasantness, he is played with enough heart to keep you wholly invested in his future. Chalamet’s performance is an exhilarating celebration of excellence that builds to a surprisingly emotional conclusion. He hits his highest note when Marty’s entire world opens up, giving the film a neat full-circle moment and challenging Call Me By Your Name for the best final shot of a Chalamet performance.

The film’s kinetic, textured production matches Marty’s energy. Similar to how he’s so terrified of not being the greatest at any given moment, Safdie and Bronstein appear just as frightened not to bore us. They mine through the character’s highs and lows with electric writing and editing, filled with clashing personalities and ambitions. Composer Daniel Lopatin, who also worked on Uncut Gems and Good Time, crafts an ethereal and operatic score that feels ripped out of the 1980s. The production design by Jack Fisk and costume design by Miyako Bellizzi layer 1950s period details with an underlying futuristic tone. Darius Khondji’s cinematography captures a frenetic New York City where everyone knows each other’s business.

As Marty’s world expands across the globe, we see the magic of casting director Jennifer Venditti. She blends iconic stars and on-the-rise actors with real-life figures and first-timers who bring a unique essence. They’re an eclectic bunch who each share compelling chemistry with Chalamet and give us varying perspectives on Marty that layer his characterization. Some perspectives feel loosely drawn; there’s a hustling sequence involving Marty’s friend Wally (Tyler Okonma, known as Tyler, The Creator) that slows the momentum. Marty’s girlfriend Rachel (Odessa A’zion) makes an unforgettable mark, thanks to A’zion’s hypnotic screen presence. However, the writing for her character becomes repetitive to the point where you lose grasp of who this young woman is outside of her relationships. 

Of the supporting cast, Paltrow’s Kay Stone best embodies the cinematic realism that Safdie is going for. She gives us a deeper insight into the woman behind the movie star persona, and what she’s given up to maintain not only a successful career but also a respected reputation. Kay has a level of class that Marty can’t reach, and his opportunistic intentions behind interacting with her ultimately backfire. Kay schools him in the most unassuming of ways: with life experience that he can’t even begin to level with. Paltrow excels at giving us both a seemingly inaccessible Hollywood star, and a relatable dreamer who feels the disappointment of not getting the recognition she had hoped for. There’s a moment when Kay walks onto the opening night stage of a play she’d been rehearsing and smiles in the glow of applause behind her. She lives for moments like this one; her sense of worth is carried by that applause, and it makes the impending critical reviews all the more devastating.

To quote the classic Tears for Fears song, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, “Welcome to your life…there’s no turning back.” These lyrics reverberate throughout Marty Supreme. Marty is so focused on living in the moment to fulfill his aspirations. He embodies the feeling of being forever young, chased by time, yet romantically thinking time will always be on his side. It’s not until the end of this character’s cinematic journey that he starts to realize the impact of his choices on other people. There’s no turning back from your decisions. It’s one hell of a responsibility, and if you’re a dreamer who wished you had or hadn’t made a move, it makes for an overwhelmingly emotional ending that inspires you to keep moving forward.

Marty Supreme arrives in theatres Christmas Day.