To most, pingpong is just a game to play in a friend’s garage or backyard on a warm summer day. To Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet), the fast-talking hustler at the center of Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” it’s a chance to prove he is great at something and can be better than anyone else he’s matched up against.
As the movie opens, Marty is working as a shoe salesman in a store owned by his uncle. He’s twitchy and charismatic, quickly proven to be a tornado of chaos, whipping through life with unchecked assuredness. His job at the shoe store is to make enough money to travel for pingpong tournaments (and he constantly reminds his uncle it’s the only reason he’s working at the store). He has a casual romantic relationship with his childhood friend and neighbor Rachel (Odessa A’zion), even though she is married to Ira (Emory Cohen), but ultimately, everyone in Marty’s life is background noise in his quest for greatness.
“Marty Supreme” has the framework of a sports movie, but the actual sport isn’t the primary focus. The majority of Safdie’s film is watching Marty run across New York City trying to make enough money to travel to Japan because his ego was damaged when he lost there. He walks into every room with empty pockets but the confidence of a New York City bon vivant, weaseling his way into stays at places like The Ritz. He so desperately wants to seem like he belongs in the upper echelon of the Manhattan social scenes, but always has to borrow a few bucks to get by.
When movie stars in today’s marketplace are discussed, Chalamet’s name is always present. But is there a star that generates enough excitement to bring masses to the theater like there once was? “Marty Supreme” is going to be Chalamet’s first real test of his power. His performance shows the young actor’s interest in finding different roles and not getting pigeonholed into one type.
His breakout performance in 2017’s “Call Me by Your Name” earned him his first Oscar nomination — he was also nominated last year for playing Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown” — and proved him a fresh young actor with a promising future. Chalamet’s performance as Elio was a tricky tightrope to walk, conveying the character’s emotions through whispered desires and stolen glances, late night talks and bike rides around sunny Northern Italy. The actor carried the weight of fleeting adolescence in his eyes and broke audiences’ heart with a long, contemplative stare into a fireplace.
Elio is nowhere to be found in Chalamet’s performance as Marty, an insufferable character portrayed with fierce magnetism by the actor. It’s like Chalamet grabs hold of the camera and refuses to let it go, daring viewers to give into their annoyance with Marty. Safdie — one half of the Safdie brothers, behind films like the noxious “Uncut Gems,” in particular — has created a propulsive star vehicle for Chalamet, who is able to give a career-defining performance in the same vein of Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
The marriage of great direction and performance is key to making “Marty Supreme” what it is, because Marty is rarely likable, but always compelling. Safdie (who co-wrote the movie with Ronald Bronstein) subtly poses the question as to whether Marty really cares about pingpong as much as he leads on or if it’s just a vehicle for greatness.
As much as “Marty Supreme” is Chalamet’s movie, the film has an inspired supporting cast, from Fran Drescher as Marty’s mom to Tyler, The Creator as Marty’s friend and Kevin O’Leary (of “Shark Tank”) as a successful business man who makes Marty an offer to help him get to Japan. Marty’s love interests, Rachel and aging movie star Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow) quietly balance him out and are the only two who can — even momentarily — bring Marty back down to earth.
Even with a singular Safdie behind the camera, there are plenty of Safdie brother aesthetics on display throughout “Marty Supreme.” The film is an original, exciting movie with the right balance of star vehicle and ensemble — funny, propulsive and the best picture of the year.
“Marty Supreme” opens in theaters on December 25.
