Film Review – Marty Supreme (2025)

      **Marty Supreme, 2025**

      Directed by Josh Safdie

      Featuring Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher, Emory Cohen, Penn Jillette, Larry Sloman, Sandra Bernhard, Luke Manley, John Catsimatidis, Géza Röhrig, Spenser Granese, Mitchell Wenig, George Gervin, Isaac Simon, and Fred Hechinger.

      **SYNOPSIS:**

      Marty Mauser, a young man with an unappreciated dream, ventures through tremendous challenges in his quest for greatness.

      Beginning with animated sperm in the opening credits, the film presents a high-octane series of chaotic events throughout New York, questioning morality in the relentless pursuit of sports legend status. In *Marty Supreme*, director Josh Safdie aims to surpass the heart-pounding absurdity of *Uncut Gems*. The film cleverly uses sports as a springboard for outrageous narratives.

      Co-writing the screenplay with editor Ronald Bronstein after parting ways with his brother Benny (whose storytelling styles are starkly different), one might ponder the greater message here, besides the notion that grand aspirations of success often coexist with narcissism or a dangerous delusion that sacrifices impacting loved ones are the only path forward. While it’s clear this theme doesn’t necessitate two and a half hours to convey, if that is the intent, it’s refreshing that the film delivers a consistently thrilling experience throughout. Critics often tout all sorts of peculiar, unusual, and arcane films to pique interest, yet the irony of *Marty Supreme* is its energetic nature, endlessly escalating in chaotic excitement, despite its focus on ping-pong/table tennis.

      To avoid exaggeration, predicting the trajectory of this outrageous madness is challenging, except that Timothée Chalamet’s charmingly talkative American table tennis player and tournament underachiever, Marty Mauser, will either become overconfident, greedy, toxic, shamelessly self-centered, prideful, snarky, or some combination of being overly ambitious and making disastrous choices in his ill-conceived schemes to secure funding. A year after suffering a heavy blow to his ego, he competes again in the tournament against a Japanese champion representing something larger than himself in the aftermath of World War II. Although loosely based on table tennis hustler Marty Reisman, this narrative takes significant liberties, incorporating car chases, shootouts, and explosions. Marty embodies someone who likely can’t entertain the notion of other nations, positioning himself at the center of the universe with enough misguided confidence to fill an ocean.

      Marty is convinced that because table tennis is an increasingly popular international sport, achieving stardom and the wealth that comes with it is the only way to support his mother (Fran Drescher) and possibly a future family. He ghosts his already married girlfriend, Rachel (Odessa A’zion), after inadvertently getting her pregnant, seemingly refusing to accept his fatherhood due to a mix of immaturity and shame, knowing he lacks the resources to take care of them. Nonetheless, this doesn’t excuse his behavior towards her when he faces financial turmoil, with his life literally crumbling down (it’s amusing yet on-the-nose that his problems start with him falling through a floor), essentially enlisting her help for minor scams that go awry rather than genuinely seeking to amend his wrongs.

      Regrettably, Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein show little interest in developing Rachel’s character, leaving her as a passive figure who will always return to Marty and trust him. In her defense, the alternative is a volatile, abusive husband (Emory Cohen), and working at a pet store surely won’t cover all expenses. Still, Odessa A’zion shines as an exciting talent here, making it frustrating that her standout role feels lacking in substance.

      Then there’s Kay Stone (played by Gwyneth Paltrow), a washed-up Hollywood star whom Marty becomes infatuated with during his first tournament attempt, occasionally finding time away from her condescending husband (Kevin O’Leary, whose brief appearance aligns with his reputation as an unlikable character). This May-December dynamic reflects their life stages and desires, also presenting Marty with opportunities to engage in schemes as he becomes more desperate for money to return to the tournament. There’s another narrative angle featuring their wealthy businessman connected to a willingness to betray his own country for profit. Additionally, a subplot involving Marty’s Jewish friends, who escaped the traumas of World War II, hints at broader themes of nationality.

      The film showcases a plethora of cons and the mishaps that ensue, including participation in a table tennis scam and attempts to retrieve a lost dog for a shady gangster (Abel Ferrara), demanding compensation. With the talented cinematographer Darius Khondji and