Marty Supreme

Like Marty, the film that bears his name has no heart. It's all plot, no story. A runaway Rube Goldberg machine that keeps the character conning and the camera charging through relationships, conventions, and common sense, only to leave the audience behind to sift through the debris for the film's emotional point or purpose.

Safdie's talent and style is evident throughout. He's a good, highly kinetic director. And Chalamet has probably never been better. He's an actor who shows no fear and here he embraces Marty's shamelessness and cruelty with glee.

Unfortunately, it's all in service to an overstuffed and overlong shaggy dog story (with an actual shaggy dog) that rinses and repeats Marty's callousness in incident after incident that batters, and frankly, bores. The character never stops moving or talking, but ends up standing still. His ping-pong shots have an arc, but he doesn't. And the completely unearned finale, despite what the writers might believe, doesn't lend him one.

This is Catch Me If You Can without the joie de vivre. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner without the rebellion. It glitters and shines and catches the eye, but it's not another uncut gem. It's costume jewelry.

This movie makes no sense, but the director and editor keep things moving at such a frantic pace that the viewer doesn't have time to ask, "what exactly is going on here?" or "why is this scene in this movie?" It reminded me of a minor Scorsese movie from 1985, AFTER HOURS, in which the protagonist got mixed up with crooks and spent a lot of time running from them. There is a lot going on in this movie, but they are for the most part unrelated to the alleged plot. Chalamet plays a character who is a so-called professional ping-pong player who has to actually make his money as a shoe salesman. He lives with relatives in a rather shabby apartment. He owes money to virtually everybody. He also has a pregnant girlfriend he is trying to pass off as his sister. But he wants to get to Japan to play in a highly publicized game of ping-pong and win a huge monetary prize. He hangs out in a sleazy bar where minor-league hoodlums play ping pong instead of pool. (I've never heard of such a place. Have you?) He has also "invented" an orange ping pong ball. (This never fits into the plot.) He somehow worms his way into the life of Gwyneth Paltrow, who is a has-been actress trying to make a comeback. She has a rich husband who is backing her career. Chalamet meets her husband and talks him into promoting the game of ping pong and giving him the money to get to Japan to participate in the tournament. But there's a catch (the husband is a sleaze): In order to get the money, he has to play some rigged games first and lose, like TV Wrestling or Roller Derby. He also has sex with the actress (who is at least 20 years his senior) at night on the ground in Central Park. (She's a classy dame.) Somehow, he becomes involved with a dog named Moses that gangsters are fighting over for some mysterious reason. The director keeps adding new complications. But "situation" is not "plot." It ultimately adds up to nothing. There is also a lot of violence, as well as humiliation games. It's all rather pointless, even though the director pumps up the action like it was INDIANA JONES. The actors, bless 'em, give it their all and do fine work, especially Paltrow. The audience was ready to cheer at the end and they did enthusiastically. I can only attribute it to conditioning. It's hard to know which is the more over-hyped movie of 2025, this one or HAMNET.

The Safdie split has proven Benny Safdie is an underrated acting talent, but it may have been Josh Safdie's direction that bottled electricity in the brothers' previous films. As "Marty Supreme" has the same chaotic, kinetic energy as "Uncut Gems" with a more expansive setting and more layered themes.

Timothée Chalamet was born to play Marty Mauser; his juvenile charm and engaging intensity keep audiences rooting for a flawed character. "Marty Supreme" is packed with bold choices-from casting, cinematography, and cinematic score-making it a very fresh film.

Timothée Chalamet is a solid actor and his character is fun to watch in this film. But I kept wondering if I'm supposed to like him. He's a self-centered jerk who doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes and doesn't seem to care who he hurts along the way. By the end of the film I honestly didn't care if he won or lost. If you go in expecting a "Rocky" triumphant finish you're gonna be disappointed.

While the performances are certainly good, and the frenetic and energetic cinematography and spirit of the film is nice, the story itself feels lacking. A young man pursues his dream of becoming a table-tennis champion, and along the way there are challenges. That's pretty much it. Nothing groundbreaking. It's basically a common sports film we've all seen for the umpteenth time made to soothe the masses. Throughout the runtime, I remember thinking that it's both too long and contains things that work. Quite a few times I wondered when the film would conclude.

The film should've been tabled (tennis) for editing. The acting across the board is good and charming, with Chalamet doing all he could here, and Paltrow giving a subtle, winsome turn as a glamorous movie star. But the film does ultimately feel overlong, melodramatic, and quite formulaic. And that's due to the undercooked script. It's just another underdog-aspiring-to-be-a-champion film that just doesn't quite stick its landing. It doesn't feel as inspiring as it aims to be. The action scenes often feel unearned and like they were added in solely for shock value rather than feeling organic. And the subject matter, table-tennis, is not in itself all that compelling. While yes, the way the sport scenes are filmed is engaging and dynamic, and it's in these scenes where the cinematography shines, ultimately you're kind of just watching a guy hit a ball back and forth across tables. The main character is ornery and isn't really likeable and is rather immature for much of the film, which can be hard to watch. There is a silly scene involving a paddle and a butt that felt really contrived, anachronistic, and out of place.

When the film ended, I remembered thinking, is that it? And, I don't want to spoil things, but when you see the ending you'll understand: it sort of misses the mark. It's all just so predictable. Bigger swings, pun intended, could've been taken here to make the film less generic.

I did enjoy that the film felt sort of deliberate at times. A number of characters are played by actors who themselves are in a way, the characters they play. For instance, you have O'Leary, a real-life businessman, portraying a businessman; and Kawaguchi, a real-life table-tennis player, portraying a table-tennis player. This choice brought the film a kind of verisimilitude that was an interesting choice. Further, it isn't afraid to poke fun at American entitlement, stereotypical Jewish avarice and miserliness, and the gritty reality of how the American Dream isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be. There are some touching and funny moments sprinkled throughout the film. And the music and cinematography are nice.

Overall, the film is just alright to maybe slightly above average. Charming performances, nice visuals, and some interesting commentary carry the film.