'Marty Supreme': Timothée Chalamet Seeks Greatness in Electrifying Ping-Pong Drama

PHOTO: A24

While accepting the award for Best Actor at the 31st Annual SAG Awards, Timothée Chalamet expressed his desire to be seen as “one of the greats” in the world of acting. It could be viewed as a mission statement for his career, as he wants to be much more than just a heartthrob in the eyes of the public, and instead wants to be included among the legends of the silver screen. It could also be viewed as if Chalamet is a baseball player calling his shot, a gesture of self-confidence and dedication to his craft. This acceptance speech rings truer after seeing his latest starring vehicle, Marty Supreme. The film follows Marty Mauser, a young man on a quest for greatness, much like Chalamet himself, and details the depths he is willing to go to in order to achieve it. Unlike Chalamet, Marty is extremely cocky and self-destructive, putting himself and others in danger just to get what he feels he deserves. This gives way to an adrenaline pumping and anxiety inducing journey that is sure to blow audiences away. It also acts as a delivery of the promises Chalamet made in his SAG acceptance speech, as this is undeniably his finest hour and firmly puts him in the conversation of one of our greatest living actors. But even beyond Chalamet’s contributions, Marty Supreme is a masterful examination of the pursuit of greatness and is an electric, incredible experience.

In 1952, Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) has dreams of being a table-tennis champion. He feels destined for greatness, and will do anything in his power to achieve it. After an incident at the British Open, an obstacle emerges that puts his dream in jeopardy. This sees Marty result to unorthodox and dangerous methods to overcome this, and leads to a nightmarish journey for him. All the while, he faces pushback from people in his life and other challenges and issues begin to arise. Despite all this, Marty pushes himself further and further in pursuit of his dream, and will do whatever it takes to become a champion.

The other narrative surrounding Marty Supreme centers around director and co-writer Josh Safdie. This is Safdie’s first film he has made without his brother Benny Safdie since his debut feature The Pleasure of Being Robbed. Considering that the brothers have enjoyed success as a duo with films like Good Time and Uncut Gems, the split left many wondering what would come from it. Benny’s first solo outing, The Smashing Machine, yielded a much more subdued, documentary-esque portrait of its protagonist, while Josh further elevates the specific brand of intense filmmaking he and his brother have cultivated. It is certainly a familiar approach that we’ve seen from Safdie before, but this isn’t just him playing the hits and calling it a day. This film is a bit more thoughtful and lets things breathe a bit more compared to his earlier films, although the anxiousness and breakneck pacing he’s known for is still very much present. It does feel quite similar to Uncut Gems at times, mainly in the sense that both films are about two men chasing the highs of winning something, but Marty Supreme is a touch more palatable to wider audiences and has a strange hopefulness that we typically don’t see in the Safdies’ work. 

I would argue that this film has the sharpest writing amongst the Safdies’ filmography, as the plot flows beautifully and moves at a steady pace that never wavers. From the very beginning, it never lets up, taking the viewer on Marty’s journey and having us experience the highs and lows of it alongside him. There is a lot going on in this film, yet it never feels overstuffed or too busy, largely because it is so integral to the film narratively and stylistically. We are plunged into the chaos of Marty’s life and the problems that he mostly creates for himself and it is both visceral and impossible to tear yourself away from. At no point in the film could I predict what was going to happen next, and I spent most of it wondering if or how Marty would get out of the situations he gets into. The storytelling is excellent through and through and everything unfolds in a way that had me fully invested from start to finish. 

Considering that this film is set in the 1950s, one certainly wouldn’t expect this film to have a synth-heavy score and multiple 80s needledrops. However, that is exactly what we get with Marty Supreme. The score isn’t as surprising since composer Daniel Lopatin is a frequent Safdie collaborator and the music he has provided for them has always been electronic, but the needledrops definitely made me raise my eyebrows. It’s a bold move, but it works incredibly well both in terms of evoking certain emotions and providing a window into Marty’s head. The 80s songs are used in important moments in the film’s plot, and tend to convey the ripple effect that Marty’s actions have as well as show that his mind is frequently on the future and not the present. One of the rare instances of period appropriate music comes in a sequence where Marty and his buddy Wally are trying to hustle some table-tennis players. The scene is pure 50s Americana, down to the music that underscores it. It represents Marty joining the unwashed masses and trying to pass himself off as an average joe instead of the prodigy he is, and gives us a look into the world we might typically see in a 1950s period piece. The rest of the film’s music may be anachronistic, but it is a perfect fit for it and is some of the most fascinating use of music I’ve seen in a film in years. 

If there’s anything I can count on in a Safdie film, it is that the cast will be made up of a mixture of established names, unknowns, and a few unexpected casting choices that somehow pay off. Gwyneth Paltrow is easily the most widely recognizable name in the film apart from Timothée Chalamet, and she gives her best performance in years here. As the elegant Kay Stone, she plays high status exceptionally, but there is an underlying sadness to her that is well deployed on her part. It is so great to see her playing a role with a bit of depth to it again, and she absolutely nails it. One of the most surprising casting choices of the film is Kevin O’Leary, perhaps better known as “Mr. Wonderful” from the show Shark Tank. I wasn’t expecting much from him, but he plays his role quite well. Granted, he plays a highly unlikable businessman, so it isn’t much of a stretch for him, but there are moments where his performance hits hard. His best moment comes from a small monologue he delivers to Marty near the end of the film that I won’t spoil here, but it definitely packs a punch. 

Perhaps my favorite performance in the film other than Chalamet’s comes from Odessa A’zion who plays Rachel Mizler, a pet shop employee who has an affair with Marty. A’zion has been showing up more and more lately, and this feels like the type of role that will help push her to the next level. She has great chemistry with Chalamet, but shines on her own beautifully. It is a performance that builds and builds over the course of the film, and she is a force to be reckoned with. I was especially blown away by her work in the back half of the movie, namely a scene where she helps Marty get out of a dangerous situation. The scene unlocks an interesting layer of the character that informs the rest of the film and further develops the relationship between them. A’zion is an incredible talent, and this role really shows what she’s capable of.

At the center of it all is Timothée Chalamet, who gives his best performance to date as Marty Mauser. He’s kept getting better and better over the years, but this is the pinnacle of his career so far. It’s a very relatable role for Chalamet, as Marty is desperately chasing greatness and will stop at nothing to attain it. Marty is certainly more extreme and cockier than Chalamet tends to be, but their motivations are very similar. The character comes across as arrogant and borderline delusional at times, but the film portrays his talent in such a way where you can see why he is so confident. He’s an excellent table-tennis player and he has the potential to get what he wants, but his confidence is also the thing that gets in his way. He gets himself into difficult situations because he feels entitled to greatness, and is willing to lay everything on the line in order to get it. The sheer ballsiness of Marty is astounding, and Chalamet plays this perfectly. The journey he goes on has a lot of twists and turns, and he has such a complete and precise hold on the character that he navigates it beautifully (even if the choices he makes are questionable to say the least). He’s been talking a big game about his performance in this film during its press tour, which might lead some to question whether he’s blowing smoke or not. I can say with absolute certainty that he walks the walk with this performance and is incredible every step of the way. This is destined to be Timothée Chalamet’s most defining performance, and it feels like a full anointing of him as one of the greats.

Marty Supreme is pure electricity, a wild, pulse-pounding descent into hell and back via one man’s thirst for greatness. It may recall some of Josh Safdie’s earlier films, but it still packs a mean wallop and is captivating from its prologue to its glorious ending. This is the type of film that grabbed me right away and had me buzzing not only throughout it, but for hours afterward. It’s the type of film I immediately wanted to turn around and watch again because I was so enthralled by it. It absolutely blew me away on almost every conceivable level and exceeded my already high expectations. Marty Supreme is phenomenal, and a major achievement for everyone involved.

Rating: 5/5