Film Review: Marty Supreme
Dream Big
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Marty Supreme. Please note that this is just one of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for this film may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
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PLOT
Via Letterboxd: In fifties New York, Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.
REVIEW
The Safdie brothers have long been known for films about deeply unlikable characters caught up in chaotic situations, and we watch in awe as these so-called “heroes” stumble from one sticky situation into the next. They spent years patiently grinding away on the indie scene, until 2017’s Good Time and later Uncut Gems finally broke them through in a major way with A24’s backing. And just as they seemed poised to take their careers to the next level, the brothers split paths as Benny shifted toward acting and directed The Smashing Machine, released earlier this year, while Josh focused on bringing a story he’d been developing for years to the screen with Marty Supreme.
At first glance, Marty Supreme looks like a fairly standard sports movie. Our “hero” is Marty Mauser, a young guy stuck selling shoes for his uncle while carrying on an affair with a married childhood friend, all while dreaming of making it big in the world of table tennis. He heads to London with hopes of becoming a world champion, but after losing to a top-tier Japanese player, he finds himself hustling for a way to get to Japan so he can face him one more time and claim his athletic revenge. But that’s the clean version of the story.
Along the way, Marty proves himself to be just as much of a fuck-up as the protagonists we’ve seen in past Safdie brothers films. He’s an arrogant prick, though a gifted wordsmith, so much so that sometimes you’re laughing at his cocky quips, and other times you want to choke him out. He carries on affairs with married women, lies to his friends, and constantly gets himself into trouble that puts the people he cares about in danger. He digs himself deeper and deeper into holes of his own making. At one point, the film follows him through a single night as everything explodes, getting worse with each passing hour, until Marty has fallen so far that it takes the rest of the film just to get him to begin climbing back out.
The only reason Mauser can be so off-putting on paper yet still fascinating enough to watch, and even root for, to a point, is because Timothée Chalamet embodies him so completely that it feels like a role that could define this era of his already promising and likely long career. He fast-talks and trash-talks his way through the film while commanding an ensemble that includes Kevin O’Leary, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Tyler, the Creator, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher, among many others.
What you ultimately get is a sports story infused with gangster-style dealings and raw human drama; a two-and-a-half-hour epic that takes Marty from the highest highs to the lowest lows. This feels like the kind of film that future “film bros” will call their favorite movie of all time, and the kind that could create a genuinely iconic character for 2020s cinema. It won’t be for everyone, especially depending on how you’ve responded to past Safdie projects, but I was entertained from start to finish. The film even ends on an unexpectedly hopeful and positive note.
I give Marty Supreme an A-. It’s one of the most chaotic, and best, films of the year.
“TL;DR”
Pros: An absolute thrill ride whether it be when it comes to its scenes involving panic-inducing anxious showdowns with gangsters or incredible table tennis action; Timothee Chalamet delivers what could go down as his most iconic performance of this era in his career; Finale that will ultimately leave audiences in a more hopeful note after the chaos of the last one hundred and fifty minutes
Cons: Our protagonist may be hilarious to watch, but he has some moments that will test the audience’s patience with him; The film did feel a tad overlong to me and could have been tighter
GRADING
