One-of-a-kind and authentic. Marty Supreme is one of Timothee Chalamet’s most mesmerizing performances. The film is like a ping pong match that you can’t take your eyes off. Writer and director Josh Safdie creates a film that is a few notches down from the stress of Uncut Gems and not aimed as much at gambling. This time the story is focused on earning money through competition and building a reputation.
The film gears on Marty Mauser (Chalamet), a young New Yorker taking on all kinds of jobs and doing what he can to make his way to high-end tournaments and ping-pong championships. He works at a shoe store, but also continuously hustles at various jobs to make money. However, his ego is what is always in front of him. He has the mindset that he can never lose which leads to turmoil for him that builds as many other problems crop up. He gets a girl named Rachel Mizler (Odessa A’zion) pregnant and falls in love with a stage actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow). The problems continue to accumulate. For Marty, playing ping-pong is all that matters to him, so his hustling leads to consequences. Marty Supreme makes the audience feel that ping-pong balls are flying in their direction. Sometimes they fall like rain and at other times they dazzle.
There is an aspect of Marty that is successful, but once he achieves fame his entire focus is on himself. Once he has a failed tournament, he goes on a journey hustling to make ends meet to compete in the next tournament. The movie is like Uncut Gems meets the world of ping-pong. The writing about sportsmanship is top-notch. My mind became blurred as Chalamet burned up the screen with stress as he continues to put all things on the line in his role as Marty. There is no stopping the film’s beat which leaves audiences breathless, Marty Supreme is full of ping-pong tournaments which feel like wars for fame that Marty created for himself.
The dynamics between Chalamet and Paltrow are unique. In addition to their age difference, one is working his way to fame, and the other already has experienced it. Their twisted sense of love is written in a mode of desperation. Safdie has a way of creating stressful scenarios with his characters. This happens frequently in Marty Supreme and adds a form of humanistic value. The main character is putting everything on the line and so many things go wrong along the way. Trust, family and friends are lost, but ultimately the one he connects with has his heart. That is the strange but the surreal dynamic plays out in the performances of Chalamet and Paltrow in Marty Supreme.
Chalamet’s performance is ferocious. Even when he is told not to do something, he persists. He is a machine of an unstoppable force. No matter the debts, the trouble, the ping-pong championship is all that matters to him. The amount of sacrifice put forth makes this movie a winning cinematic portrait of non-stop efforts. Four out of four stars.
Movies with Tarek 