Marty Supreme Review

Timothée Chalamet Finds the Perfect Vehicle for His Relentless Pursuit of Greatness

By: Marc Kozak

Marty Supreme

Timothée Chalamet Finds the Perfect Vehicle for His Relentless Pursuit of Greatness

By: Marc Kozak

There’s no shortage of movies about young men obsessed with being perceived as “the greatest.” Anyone with a little bit of talent – whether that be in music, sports, or any kind of artistic or intellectual pursuit – certainly dreams of being the best there is at what they do, but a certain kind of person is unable to think of anything else. They will sacrifice morals and relationships to get to the top, driven by some kind of primal desire to somehow outlive death by being remembered, even if just for a little while, as someone who was the undisputed best.

Timothée Chalamet is a very famous and very talented actor who has made it no secret that he wants to be remembered as one of the best to ever do it. “I know we’re in a subjective business, but the truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness,” he proclaimed in a famous speech at the Screen Actors Guild awards earlier this year, naming Michael Jordan, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Viola Davis as aspirational targets. In a world of media-trained stars who aim to appear humble and “classy,” Chalamet’s remarks have led to him being labeled by some as arrogant and entitled, as if it’s a crime to have artistic pretensions.

You can plainly see Chalamet’s desires in just about every role he’s taken in the past few years. Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” a man driven to change the face of music. Paul Atreides in the “Dune” franchise, a man who becomes the literal messiah. Willy Wonka in “Wonka,” a man looking to become the greatest chocolatier in the world. This pairing of actor and role, both compulsively driven towards a singular goal, has imbued Chalamet’s performances with an easy naturalism and a kind of electric desperation.

It’s this kind of energy that makes him the perfect choice to star in “Marty Supreme,” the latest from Josh Safdie, a director renowned for movies that feature characters going after a goal with the reckless propulsion of a runaway truck hurtling brakeless down the side of a mountain. Chalamet plays a character loosely inspired by the life and career of American table tennis prodigy Marty Reisman, a Jewish 23-year-old struggling to make ends meet as a shoe salesman in 1950s New York City. He not only thinks he’s the best ping pong player in the world, but he just might actually be the best, even if the world at large is summarily unimpressed by a sport that no one cares about and that doesn’t exactly have the most financially lucrative career path. Marty doesn’t care – he’s determined to scrounge up enough money to get to Japan so he can win the World Championship, and anyone in his orbit – friends, family, and lovers alike – are all just tools to be used to get him where he wants to go.

" Even if you aren’t exactly rooting for his character (you may even outright hate him), you simply cannot take your eyes off of him, largely thanks to Chalamet’s natural electricity.  "

Because Marty is a despicable, used-car salesman of a person; an unflinching sociopath with an unwavering one-track mind. There are no depths he wouldn’t sink to if it helps to advance his cause. He breezes in and out of the life of an old friend and neighbor named Rachel (Odessa A’zion), who is married but hopelessly enamored with Marty, even though he treats her like crap (and even unknowingly gets her pregnant). He hustles money by more or less stealing from his uncle and by setting up rigged ping pong games with his friend Wally (Tyler, the Creator). He is completely unperturbed by his woeful financial and living situations, convinced that once he gets to Japan and wins the championship, everything will change.

Once in Japan, he comes across former movie queen Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow) in a hotel and talks his way into her life using the sheer power of his overwhelming confidence, which then leads him into business deals with Kay’s husband, Milton (Kevin O’Leary). Marty is having the time of his life, running up a huge hotel tab and sleeping with Kay, until he is beaten comprehensively in the final by Japanese phenom Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi, a real-life table tennis champion), instantly becoming a laughing stock in the sport and forced to return home with nothing to show for his efforts.
The second half of the movie is a madcap scramble to raise enough money to get back to Japan and set up a rematch with Endo. Marty’s ego is bruised, but his confidence in his ability remains unscathed; he’s forced to lean even harder on his family and friends for money, eventually wearing out his welcome just about everywhere he goes. Things escalate further and further out of control, as Marty gets mixed up with the cops, a violent group of boys upset at being conned, Kay’s bitter husband Milton out for revenge, and a dangerous gangster played by Abel Ferrara. Marty continues to barrel forward without regard for the massively increasing collateral damage being left in his wake, as events comically careen out of control with seemingly no possible way out for Marty.

Safdie is clearly in his element here, one-upping the chaotic anxiety spiral that was his his last movie (“Uncut Gems”), all while lovingly reproducing the hustle and bustle of the Lower East Side of the 1950s, where everyone had a grift and colorfully seedy characters made deals on every street corner. Darius Khondji, the cinematographer of classic movies like “Seven” and “Amour,” gives every scene a dirty, claustrophobic visual feel, making it feel like the walls of the city are closing in on Marty even when he’s outside in the streets. Daniel Lopatin’s score is aided tremendously by a series of banging needle drops from the 1980s, including Tears for Fears, Alphaville, and Peter Gabriel.

Really, this is Chalamet’s movie. He is so completely in his own wheelhouse here as the fast-talking young hotshot who doesn’t know when to shut his mouth. It’s a potentially career-defining performance (for now, anyway), one that sheds whatever he had left of the boyish, good-looking charm of his previous roles. The camera is always right up in Chalamet’s face, gleefully luxuriating in his unkempt hair, Coke-bottle glasses, and full unibrow. Even if you aren’t exactly rooting for his character (you may even outright hate him), you simply cannot take your eyes off of him, largely thanks to Chalamet’s natural electricity.

Odessa A’zion produces a similarly star-making turn (enhanced by her recent starring role on HBO’s “I Love LA”) as Marty’s ride-or-die partner and lover. She brings her own kind of chaotic energy and strange confidence to the picture, mostly avoiding becoming a girlfriend cliché by the mere fact that she seems to be 100% all-in on whatever Marty does, no matter how insane things get. Paltrow is also very effective as an older, much-more-experienced woman who struggles to maintain her dignity even as she can’t help but be won over by the exponentially inferior Marty. She has been surrounded by an uncaring husband and a barrage of yes-men for so long that someone who is genuinely interested in her is a nectar too sweet to avoid, even if it threatens to collapse her comfortable life.

“Marty Supreme” is a movie populated mostly by assholes climbing over one another to get what they want. It’s a recipe used often in recent years, and one that might taste sour to those who need someone to root for. Still, the real joy of this movie is watching how absolutely unhinged things get in one man’s pursuit of greatness; it’s the classic American Dream turned up to 200%, for better and for worse. It’s the kind of movie that leaves you out of breath simply due to the fact that your body has been crinkling up into a stress ball for the better part of an hour – not exactly fun per se, but a thrilling reminder of what it was like to be young and invincible. We can only watch Marty through the cracks of our fingers, fully aware of the brutal reality check waiting just around the corner.