Marty Supreme
Marty Supreme
Starring Timothee Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A'zion, Kevin O'Leary
Directed by Josh Safdie
In 1952 New York, Marty Mauser (Timothee Chalamet) works at a shoe store but plays table tennis on the side, wanting to escape the humdrum boring normalcy and become someone bigger than he is. He steals $700 and flies to the British Open, where he meets retired actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow). Using his charms, he manages to seduce the former actress under the nose of her influential businessman husband Milton Rockwell (Kevin O'Leary), whom Marty uses his charms on to get money to participate in future table tennis tournaments.
When he arrives back home, he learns his childhood friend Rachel Mizler (Odessa A'zion) is pregnant, with what could be his child, but he abandons them because he's trying to grift some money to make it to the table tennis World Championships. Yet his fast-talking ways continually catches up with him, as he evades the police, former friends, and one extremely ticked off man who blames Marty for losing his dog - but all the while Marty keeps his charm and charisma that oftentimes gets him more into trouble than out of it.
Josh and Benny Safdie are director brothers who've collaborated in two of the best films in the independent circuit: "Good Time" and "Uncut Gems." Both movies are known for their offbeat pacing, manic characters, and breakneck speed. They're also the best roles of two actors: Robert Pattinson ("Good Time") and Adam Sandler ("Uncut Gems"), both of whom were unjustly denied Oscar nominations for their work. Both men showcased the Safdie's desire for manic characters who oftentimes find themselves being washed away by the currents of their situations while thinking they're still in control, and even though Benny stepped away from working with his brother, "Marty Supreme" has all the hallmarks of their previous work to prove that Josh has what it takes to make a film himself that utilizes all the hallmarks of the brother's previous work - and somehow makes it better.
There's a saying I heard as a young adult that I still hold onto today: "charisma without character leads to catastrophe." If that saying was a person in a fictionalized movie, it'd be Marty Mauser. He has the words and the drive to get whatever he wants, employing his charisma to woo anyone he comes into contact with, even though he's as swarmy as a used car salesman. He's a man with no character - he seduces a married woman, impregnates a lifelong friend and denies he's the father, and uses his friends and strangers to do whatever he wants, and for most of the time those victims still fall under his spell. Yet, due to his lack of character, everything around him becomes a catastrophe as his Plan A fails, but so too does his Plans B-Z as well. Due to his frenzied nature, these problems exponentially grow more dangerous and deadly, where he finds himself out of control but thinking he still is, succumbing to the current pulling him in directions he doesn't want to go.
The man behind the role is Timothee Chalamet, who's never had a bad role in his illustrious career, and despite his role in "Call Me By Your Name," "Marty Supreme" is his crowning achievement. He makes you both love and loathe the character, as he belittles those around him but does so in a disarmingly charming way. You equally don't want to see him succeed, but hope he does, and that's something Chalamet balances with effortless talent, but this movie itself is also a passion project for the actor. Since 2018, he's been preparing for the role by learning table tennis, playing it constantly even as he worked on films like "Wonka," "Dune 2," "The French Dispatch," and "A Complete Unknown," even traveling with a foldable table. He didn't allow for a stunt double to perform the epic table tennis matches, but played them himself, and in a noteworthy scene he also refused a stunt double but took the brunt of the pain himself. He's one of this generation's best actors and "Marty Supreme" is one of his crowning achievements.
The supporting cast also hold their own, as Gweneth Paltrow returns to the genre that she was best known for before starring as Pepper Potts in several MCU projects (in fact, this is her first non-MCU role in over ten years). She plays the aging actress who falls for the charms of Marty, but doesn't relegate herself to the traditional former actress trope. She's a well-rounded character who does the most with her short scenes. So too does Odessa A'zion, the other woman in Marty's life. Although seemingly impregnated by Marty, she still goes on her own adventure that could've been cut from the movie altogether, but is necessary to exemplify her own character and also give Marty some more hurdles he has to jump through. Yet the film is Chalamet's project, and through and through he gives another awards-worthy performance that, hopefully, will finally give him the gold he so deserves.
Offering another nail-biting, intense, disorienting adventure, Josh Safdie's "Marty Supreme" is more than just a generic fictionalized biopic but a frantic journey with Timothee Chalamet at the helm.
The Score: A+
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