Marty Supreme

Released 2025. Director: Josh Safdie

AMBITION AND AN INSATIABLE APPETITE FOR SUCCESS seem to go hand in hand with douchebaggery in the movies. Decency and kindness are tossed aside in the single-minded pursuit of personal goals. Think of Jesse Eisenberg playing Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, or Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. When the casting is spot-on, these roles are golden opportunities for delivering career-defining turns because the right actor can turn obnoxious traits into showy performances. The latest to join the rank is Timotheé Chalamet in Marty Supreme.

Marty Mauser is a gifted ping-pong player. So good, he's winning on championship levels. Trouble is, table tennis is not a popular sport in America in 1952. Marty is not satisfied with being the best (but unknown and not making money) in America; he believes he can beat the world's best. To do that, first he needs to win the British Open but he doesn't have the means to get to London. What he has instead is an overload of pluck and drive. Come what may, he'll get what he wants, even if it means trampling over every single person along the way.

The quickest way to get the cash is to rob his uncle's shoe shop, where Marty works begrudgingly. What's that phrase people say about not biting the hand that feeds you? Marty doesn't care about that. While in London, he turns his nose up on the players' accommodation and cons his way to the Ritz, where he meets Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), a former actress whose wealthy husband Milton Rockwell has the financial backing Marty craves. Marty seduces and steals from the rich and poor alike without second thoughts. Somewhere in the midst of that Marty also extorts a mobster over a lost dog leading indirectly to violent shooting deaths. Just a few incidents that Marty regards as mere inconvenience. Eyes on the ball!

Marty is not the only person you'd think twice about putting on your party guest list. Just about everyone else in this movie is unlikeable. They use other people to get what they want, from Milton who humiliates Marty with a public spanking (these two players truly deserve each other), to Kay who lusts after a younger body (while acting self-righteous to hide the itch underneath her dress), to Marty's girlfriend Rachel who sees a way out of her loveless marriage, and of course Marty himself, who's the worst kind of friend you could have, the kind who shows up only when he wants something from you.

Marty gets his way because he's a very skilled hustler. He thinks on his feet, has a silver tongue and a mind that runs a hundred miles a hour. Some people might find this an electrifying trait but Marty comes across off-putting, obnoxious and borderline offensive.

When you have a character portrayed on a hyper level who embodies some majorly disagreeable attributes, he will be divisive. What's undeniable though is Timotheé Chalamet's frenetic turn that simultaneously attracts and repels. This is yet another showcase to demonstrate the actor's command of his craft, breathing life into characters as diverse as a broken-hearted first love in Call Me By Your Name, a mythical sci-fi warrior in the Dune movies, and folk legend Bob Dylan reborn in A Complete Unknown. There's no trace of any of that in Marty Mauser, and I mean that as a compliment on Chalamet's talent to embody entirely different personalities.

I want to applaud Chalamet for his work, but I can't say I feel the same for the movie as a whole. There are aspects that I admire, such as the pacing and writing. There are aspects I find amiss, such as the grimy photography. Chief of all, it's the movie's hero-worshipping of a contemptible narcissist. It feels to me that the filmmakers push too hard to make their point, so much so that it backfired.

There's no wit, humour or charm to Marty, only arrogance and selfishness. Anti-heroes can be obnoxious and yet connect with a sliver of humanity. I will cite again Jesse Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg, who is ultimately sympathetic as a friendless boy who just wants to be accepted, despite his monstrously anti-social behaviour.

Marty Supreme was directed by Josh Safdie who, together with brother Benny, co-directed a bunch of movies including Uncut Gems (starring Adam Sandler) and Good Time (starring Robert Pattinson) and generally received favourable reviews. I suppose I'm in the minority who's never been enthused by any of their movies so I can't say I'm surprised I did not warm to Josh's solo directorial effort.

I just wish there's something more to this talented sportsman, a layer beneath his aggressive ambition but Marty has no complexity or dimensions beyond his selfish hunger and exhausting mania. The movie is little more than an energetic montage of an appalling person without scruples. When Marty is overcome by emotions at the sight of his newborn son, this final shot is meant to end the movie on a moment of redemption. From all we've seen though, I'm more inclined to suspect he'd sell the baby in exchange for a carton of personalized ping-pong balls.

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