Marty Supreme Review: A Powder-Keg Ping-Pong Drama Showcasing Chalamet's Greatness
If Marty Supreme serves any single purpose, it is to definitively confirm that Timothée Chalamet possesses the raw, electrifying talent to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the legendary icons of New Hollywood's golden era. The film presents a fictional portrait of a relentlessly ambitious midcentury table tennis champion, loosely inspired by the real-life New York character Marty Reisman, and it crackles with the same intense, powder-keg tension that director Josh Safdie famously brought to his previous collaborations with his brother Benny.
A Career-Best Performance from a Modern Great
Chalamet, the acclaimed star of Dune, delivers what is unquestionably a career-best performance as Marty Mauser. He embodies a character who is both utterly irresistible and profoundly volatile, channelling the same hungry, dangerous energy that defined early Al Pacino performances. The camera lingers on pockmarked skin, a distinctive unibrow, and permanent wireframe glasses, but it is in Chalamet's eyes where all the character's vulnerability and desperate drive truly reside.
Marty is a true-blue underdog, but not necessarily one designed for easy audience affection. His moral compass is severely compromised; he engages in callous behaviour and spouts offensive fight talk. Yet, Chalamet finds a fragile, sympathetic core within this flawed man, particularly in moments where Marty slows his machine-gun dialogue to connect with unexpected sincerity.
Safdie's New Hollywood Playground
Director Josh Safdie's mission extends beyond maintaining a breathless, anxious pace, though the film is slightly less claustrophobic than his earlier works. His goal is to construct a perfectly realised New Hollywood habitat for his star's monumental performance. Cinematographer Darius Khondji shoots in warm, textured 35mm, creating a lived-in world populated by a gallery of fascinating, distinctive faces rarely seen in modern cinema.
This eclectic supporting cast includes director Abel Ferrara, magician Penn Jillette, and high-wire artist Philippe Petit in small roles. Gwyneth Paltrow shines with a delightfully smirking performance as married movie star Kay Stone, while Kevin O'Leary represents the brick wall of capitalism as her pen magnate husband.
Themes of Ambition and Desperation
Set in 1952 but scored with Daniel Lopatin's distinctly Eighties electronic music, the film follows Marty's desperate race against time to secure cash for international competitions in London and Tokyo. His ambition is both admirable and a sickness, infecting everyone around him and dragging them into his foolhardy schemes. He is a post-war, working-class Jewish kid with something to prove, described in his own words as "Hitler's nightmare".
The audience roots for him less for his table tennis prowess—though Safdie shoots these scenes with striking intimacy—and more from a desire to see someone finally get one over on the entitled elite. The film builds to a powerful conclusion where Chalamet, in a wonderful coda, allows Marty to become a human being again, granting him a moment of profound, cathartic release.
Dir: Josh Safdie. Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A'zion, Kevin O'Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher. 149 mins. 'Marty Supreme' is in cinemas from 26 December.
