MARTY SUPREME Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Josh Safdie
Stars: Timothee Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin O’Leary, Odessa A’Zion, Luke Manly, Emory Cohen, Tyler The Creator, Koto Kawaguchi, Larry Sloman, Fran Drescher, Abel Ferrara, Penn Jillette, David Mamet.
There have been very few films about the sport of ping pong, although both Forrest Gump and Balls Of Fury spring to mind. Table tennis is not the most dramatic or cinematic of sports; however, while table tennis is at the centre of Marty Supreme, this is very much a character driven film about ambition, obsession, and the cost of following your dream regardless of whether or not it all ends in tears.
Written by Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, the film is loosely based on the life of Marty Reisman, the 1958 and 1960 US men’s singles champion, and has been partly inspired by Reisman’s 1974 memoir, The Money Player: The Confessions of America’s Greatest Table Tennis Champion and Hustler. But the pair have taken quite a liberal approach to Reisman’s story for this energetic and hugely entertaining tale.
New York 1952. Twenty-three-year-old Marty Mauser (played by Timothee Chalamet) is a young ping-pong hustler who dreams of representing the US on the world stage in an international tournament both in London and Tokyo. Marty is overconfident and assured of his own ability. He is also fast talking and charming, but he has a tendency to use people to achieve his own aims, leaving behind lots of wreckage as he burns his bridges in spectacular fashion and refuses to face up to the consequences of his actions. He also treats the women in his life appallingly – his neighbour Rachel Mizler (Odessa A’Zion, from Until Dawn, etc), who is trapped in a loveless marriage to her abusive husband, and Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), a faded actress on the comeback trail.
This marks the first solo directorial effort for Josh Safdie who, along with his brother Benny directed Good Time and Uncut Gems. And like those two films, Marty Supreme has a similar chaotic structure, frenetic pacing, propulsive energy and a career best performance from its star. Chalamet gives arguably the best performance of his career to date, and although his Marty is selfish and at times unlikeable we still follow his pursuit of fame and money, hoping that he will learn some lessons. It is a very physical performance as he runs through the streets of New York, dodges bullets, falls through roofs and scales fences. Chalamet’s Marty is full of hubris and anxiety and self-belief. His sweaty, anxious and driven and self-destructive character here is cut from the same cloth as those characters played by Robert Pattinson and Adam Sandler in the Safdie brothers earlier films, who are also both brought down by their own hubris.
We haven’t seen Paltrow on the big screen since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, but she is a welcome presence and is fine as Kay. She brings both a strength, optimism, uncertainty and vulnerability to her performance. In a small role as Rebecca, Marty’s long suffering mother, Fran Drescher (The Nanny) makes her mark, although she is barely recognisable as the woman who seduced a young John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever fifty years ago. In his first film role Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary brings a slightly sinister quality to his role as millionaire businessman Milton Rockwell (Kay’s husband), who reluctantly sponsors Marty’s dream to compete in Tokyo. But he does exact a price for his support. Luke Manly, making his feature film debut, is also good as Dion, Marty’s friend who supports his dream until he too is betrayed by Marty’s actions.
The film has been stunningly shot by Darius Khonji, who captures the gritty New York streetscapes and brings the setting to life. He uses closeups effectively to give insights into the characters emotions and inner thoughts. He also captures the ping pong action superbly, although the balls were obviously added in postproduction. Bronstein and Safdie’s editing is suitably frenetic. Jack Fisk’s production design is authentic and captures the period perfectly. Daniel Lopatin’s electronic score adds to the film’s propulsive energy. Safdie though has deliberately spiced the 50s influenced soundtrack with a couple of 80s songs, including Tears For Fears’ Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Alphaville’s Forever Young, and The Korgis’ hit Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime, all of which effectively underscore some of the key themes.
My biggest reservation about the film concerns a major subplot involving a vicious gangster (played by film director Abel Ferrara) and his dog that leaves a bit of a nasty aftertaste – it goes on far too long and ends up with graphic violence that grates considering the lighter tone of the rest of the material.
★★★★
