REVIEW: MARTY SUPREME

Going into Marty Supreme, I knew the synopsis and that it was directed by one of the Safdie brothers. After seeing the Smashing Machine, directed by the other brother, Benny, my hopes were not high. There were no signs of classic Safdie brothers from the likes of Good Time and Uncut Gems there. But I was also aware of the great ratings and reviews Marty Supreme was getting along with Chalamet’s performance but I was not sold on that either. Even with Chalamet at this point already winning the Critics Choice and Golden Globe for Best Actor, I could not picture his performance being anything great. So basically I was a grinch going into this movie lol.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Marty Supreme originated from director Josh Safdie’s fascination with the 1974 memoir The Money Player by Marty Reisman, a legendary 1940/50’s table tennis hustler. This film is a homage rather than a strict biopic though. I think more than anything, Josh wanted to capture the dark and gritty underbelly of the ping pong world.                                                                                                              

Marty Mauser (Chalamet), is a young man with a dream no one respects, going to hell and back in pursuit of greatness. He is having an affair with his childhood friend Rachel (Odessa A’zion) whom he also gets pregnant. He is also having another affair with a “past her hey day” actress Kay Stone (Paltrow), who is the wife of a man, Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary), whom he is trying to get sponsored by so he can go to Japan and compete in the championships. Marty’s goal is to finally beat Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi), who beat him the last games, so he can become No1.                                                   

From the get go this film had me. Everything I loved about Uncut Gems was present here, the use of music, the pacing and the insufferable characters constantly making bad choices. It’s hard not to compare this with Benny Safdie’s movie The Smashing Machine, but it is plain to see that Josh was a formidable part of that ex directing duo. It was an intriguing watch from beginning to end with a satisfying climax, letting us see that Marty could make the right decision and had some humanity to him. it was good after watching all that nerve racking chaos I came away feeling good, I did not expect that.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

The performances all round were amazing. But Chalamet proved he deserves that Oscar. The dedication and time he put into this alone are award worthy. Odessa A’zion was a revelation and someone to look out for, I was mesmerised the whole time she was on the screen. Kevin O’Leary surprised me with an amazing performance, never would have guessed. Gwyneth Paltrow put in a solid and genuine performance as well. All the ancillary characters like Penn Jillete, Tyler the Creator, Fran Drescher, Abel Ferrara, Ted Williams, and they are all such regular looking people like all the other characters in the film.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

The production design was amazing, fully transported me back to that era.                                                                                                                                 Only in retrospect did I notice this, which shows how well done it was, was the music from the 80’s in 40/50’s setting, it worked amazingly well, it almost made it feel otherworldly.                                                                                                                    

The original ending had Kevin O’Leary’s character be an actual vampire who bit Marty but the studio wouldn’t have it. I think the should have done away with the biting too but have Marty like see a picture of Kevin O’Leary’s character dated to the 1800’s or something then left the rest a mystery.                                                                                                                                                                 

Let’s not forget the Honey scene lol. Such a humanitarian yet disturbing act all rolled into one. The selflessness of that story was such a great contrast to Marty’s egoistic tendencies.                                                                      

Give Chalamet the Best Actor Oscar, he fully encompassed the character and his dedication to the role was extraordinary. It’s hard to root for a guy like Marty but this story made it impossible not to.     

I loved this movie and did not expect too but it depends who you are. Some kids who were in the same session left saying it was the most boring movie they had ever seen……..what would they know, they were probably just there to see Willy Wonka in a new film. I was sold on it but if it ended with real vampires, I would have loved it more.

8/10