Marty Supreme

By turns exhilarating and exhausting, Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme is a whirlwind race of a movie anchored by another brilliant all-in performance by Timothée Chalamet.

Marty Supreme isn’t a moral fable about discipline and sportsmanship; it’s a portrait of ambition as a living, breathing necessity—something Marty must manifest into existence, from his lips to God’s ears. Throughout the madness, Safdie finds an unexpectedly human pulse within the chaos, transforming it into an ecstatic, white-knuckle rollercoaster ride.

This is unquestionably the best performance of Timothée Chalamet's career, and Marty Supreme is one of the best movies of the year. I can't wait to watch it again.

You want to hate this guy for his arrogance and the way he repeatedly sabotages his own successful. But he’s played with such dynamic verve and genuine movie-star charisma by Timothée Chalamet that you can’t help but root for him anyway, especially as the stakes mount and he refuses his quest to become the world’s greatest table tennis player despite the mountain of evidence that he absolutely should.

Josh is flying solo this time, but Marty Supreme shows he’s capable of achieving a greatness that’s all his own. While brief plot elements weigh the film down, Safide defies gravity even as Marty cannot.

Marty Supreme has such scope, ambition and humour that its flaws, as with those off-screen Timmy exploits, are easy to overlook.

Through it all, we’re supposed to relish the emotional complexity of the story, or maybe even just its dark humor. Amorality can be fun, but Marty Supreme has no emotional core—though it does try to grab us in its final minutes, when Marty is unrealistically redeemed in a moment of mawkish sentimentality.

Marty Supreme was all the buzz when it came out last year and it still hasn't died down. With the movie receiving 9 nominations at the Oscars and Timothée Chalamet touted to win the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the buzz surrounding it hasn't gone. And after having watched Marty Supreme, I understand why Timothee should win it. Set in the 1950s, Marty Mauser, a shoe salesman and aspiring table tennis champion sets his eyes on winning the World Table Tennis Championship in Tokyo. The movie basically highlights the extent to which Marty is willing to go to make that trip to Tokyo. Marty Supreme is pure chaos and I mean that in the best way possible. From start to finish, the movie just goes on and on from one thing to another. It is like Marty sets off a chain of events and that just keeps piling up until the very end. Chalamet is so good in this, it may very well be my favourite performance of his. He is a hustler, who knows what he wants and is willing to go to any extent to achieve it (including getting spanked by Mr. Wonderful). His co-stars, Odessa A'zion, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin O'Leary are all excellent in their respective roles. You cannot talk about Marty Supreme without mentioning the Table Tennis portions, which are well shot and gives you a feeling of watching a full on sports movie. Though Marty Supreme is loosely based on real life table tennis player, Marty Reisman, it isn't an out and out sports movie. Marty Supreme is a top-notch film and I have nothing but praises to sing about it. Every department excels in this film and I was entertained from start to finish.

A frenetically paced jumble of misadventures centering around a young man's ego-driven obsession for personal glory.

Story & ScreenplayOriginal and consistently engaging, with a natural overall flow, but held back by confusion, uneven clarity, and a plot that sometimes feels too strange or unrealistic to fully land.Acting & CharactersBelievable and convincing performances across the board, with no weak links, but nothing that feels exceptional or awards-level. I cared about the characters, which helps.CinematographyCompetent and fitting, but visually not especially striking or inventive. It supports the film without elevating it.Editing & PacingOne of the stronger parts of the film. Scene rhythm, transitions, and pacing worked well, and the movie never felt too rushed or too slow.Sound & MusicStrong music choices and a good soundtrack design that adds emotional lift, especially at the beginning and end.Production Design & EffectsSolid and appropriate, but mostly functional. Sets, props, costumes, and world-building worked without standing out in any major way.Marty Supreme is a strange movie. It is definitely above average, but I am still not sure how good it actually is.What makes it difficult to rate is that a lot of it works, but not in a way that fully convinces me. The plot is original, and I have not really seen anything like it before. At the same time, it can be quite confusing, and the more wild and unrealistic it became, the more it threw me off. Part of that may be because I went in expecting something closer to a real story, since it is loosely inspired by one. If I had gone in thinking of it more as a fully fictional, strange, funny film, I might have been more open to some of its crazier choices. Framing matters, and I think that affected my experience.That said, I was never bored. The movie stayed engaging throughout, and I was always curious about what would happen next. Even if the story was at times hard to follow, it flowed naturally enough from scene to scene, and the pacing was good. It never felt too rushed or too slow. By the end, I also left the cinema with a certain emotional satisfaction, helped by the smart use of music at both the beginning and end of the **** acting is solid, but not extraordinary. There are strong actors here, and they do their job well. What they mostly succeed at is making you believe the characters. The performances feel convincing, even if none of them made me think “wow, that is an awards-level performance.” Kevin O’Leary was a pleasant surprise and did a good job in his role. Supporting performances were also decent, and overall I did care about the characters.Visually, the movie is fine, but nothing special. The cinematography, atmosphere, sets, props, and costumes all work, but they do not stand out much. The editing and scene transitions were handled well, though, and that helped keep the movie watchable and coherent even when the story became a bit **** soundtrack deserves more credit than I first gave it. I did not pay much attention to it during the movie, but after listening to it again and thinking back, I realized the music choices are actually pretty strong. It is not an iconic or groundbreaking score, but it is clearly above average and adds a lot to the film’s emotional tone.Overall, Marty Supreme is an engaging, original, and slightly odd film that I respected more than I admired. It is never boring, it has some real strengths, and it leaves you with enough to think about. At the same time, it is too strange and uneven for me to call it truly great.

Marty Mauser is a piece of ****, and the attempt to redeem him in the final act looks absolutely pathetic.

Extremely disappointing based on the hype and positive reviews. There was not a single likeable character in the whole film and Martyin particular was extremely unlikeable, and not in a good way!