Marty Supreme Review
Eclectic, electric and chaotic - Marty Supreme is one of the few movies that really manages to surprise you moment to moment.
Following the life of Marty Mauser (Timothee Chalamet) - a well known ping pong player with a deep desire to be the best. He doesn’t let his humble beginnings keep him down, using his immense charm and hustler mentality to woo actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), win the support of magnate Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary), and ultimately face off against his greatest foe - the Japanese world champion who has beaten him before.
Director Josh Safdie has captured the energy and high-wire balancing act vibe of his previous works with his brother, Uncut Gems and Good Time, in this madcap adventure about a ping pong player with both a giant chip on his shoulder, and a massive heaping of balls. The film is a mile a minute, and never lets up, but unlike those prior works where there was a constant sense of fear and despair, here there is a lot more hope. So while it is still edge of your seat stuff, there is something enjoyable about it; you can’t wait for the next moment, to see how Marty will get out of this next jam. It’s electrifying.
It’s all pulled together, of course, by a tremendous and towering performance from Timothee Chalamet.
Chalamet inhabits this role in what is perhaps his most confident and commanding performance to date. He is absolutely bonkers, and his fast-talking salesman schtick makes him feel a little like Leo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can - if that conman wasn’t quite so nice, and spent more time denigrating his enemies. After all, this movie is very similar to that joint, although with an added layer of sport and an extra big heaping of grit and grime.
Chalamet commands easily any scene he is in, and while his character gets up to various unscrupulous deeds, you cannot help but feel a warmth for him because of this complex and engaging performance. But that isn’t to say he is on his own; Chalamet is ably partnered with a number of strong performances - Gwyneth Paltrow is great as the faded actress, Abel Ferrara terrifying as the out there mobster hunting for his dog, and even Kevin O’Leary excels as Marty’s benefactor. Safdie’s casting of a range of people who don’t typically act really adds a level of interest to the roles; you can’t quite always put your finger on everyone.
Then there’s the visuals, which are just gorgeous. Safdie’s brother’s latest, The Smashing Machine, kept some of the grittier grain of the frame than this outing when comparing them to their collaborations together, but this movie captures the grimy New Yorkian setting so much more effectively than that other 2025 release. Marty Supreme feels more than comfortable playing in the dark, and while the varying choices between clarity and bloom in different parts of the film can at times feel disjointed, there is an overarching visual aplomb to the entire film that just feels elevated, extravagant and so much MORE than The Smashing Machine.
Ultimately, this movie - like his brother’s release - will always suffer comparison to their work together, and without a shadow of a doubt this is not as integral or essential a product as Uncut Gems or Good Time. But if it falls short, it does so by inches, not miles. And there are bits in this that are better. This is those two classics, but funnier, more enjoyable and imminently rewatchable, and more charismatic. It’s electric cinema, once again proving Safdie is a burgeoning master, and continuing to cement Chalamet’s remarkable chops.
