Marty Supreme Review

Many will go into Marty Supreme assuming it’s about ping pong. To an extent, it is, but director Josh Safdie’s film is more about ego, obsession, and the determination to be the best… even if you aren’t. As the titular Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) prepares to leave for a table tennis tournament overseas, his best friend with benefits Rachel (Odessa A’zion) gives him a proper goodbye. This leads to a striking image that sums up the film’s theme. Rachel is pregnant, as we can see from one of her eggs. From another perspective, though, her egg looks like a ping pong ball. Marty’s life is essentially a ping pong match as he bounces between the pursuit of greatness and the responsibilities he’s been running from.

Chalamet will undoubtedly receive a Best Actor nomination as a hotshot who might not be as hot as he thinks he is. There’s no doubt that Marty has talent with a paddle, but so do the players on the other side of the table. Nobody can trash-talk like Marty, however. Marty gloats to the press and his peers about how he’s going to the top, when in reality, he’s spiraling. He returns to the States a failure, but Marty can still rebound if he makes it to Japan for another big match. He just needs to secure the funds, which proves even more intense than the sweat-soaked ping pong sequences.

Marty already burned one bridge with businessman Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary), who wants him to throw a game. Milton already wasn’t a fan of Marty, who mocked his son for dying in the war. Unbeknownst to Milton, Marty is also having a casual affair with his wife Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow). Kay was a huge movie star in the 30s, but she’s disappeared from the limelight since. Although she’s attempting a comeback on stage, Kay’s best years are clearly behind her. As Kay chases her past, Marty chases a future that might be out of reach.

Making Marty’s love life even more complicated, he comes home to learn that Rachel is nine months pregnant. What’s more, she hasn’t told her husband who the real father is. Rachel gets roped into Marty’s get-rich-quick schemes, which involve dogs, taxis, and a dozen other balls up in the air. Despite reaching for the stars, Marty’s life is one car crash after another (sometimes literally). Although not quite as panic-inducing as Uncut Gems, the audience can tell that Marty Supreme is from one half of that directing team. Like Howard Ratner, Marty is his own worst enemy, constantly getting in the way of his own success. That said, Marty’s story isn’t as tragic as Howard’s.

Without delving too deep into spoilers, the film’s climax naturally involves a pig pong match that will determine Marty’s future. Some might view it as a triumph, while others will see it as a downfall. Either way, Marty finds where he belongs, even if much remains uncertain. What can be said with certainty is that this is a funny, pulse-pounding, and meticulously crafted period piece with no shortage of memorable performances, from Fran Drescher as Marty’s mother to Tyler Okonma as one of his long-suffering friends. A’zion is especially strong as a woman who’s in over her head almost as much as Marty. Despite Marty’s disinterest in being a husband or father, Rachel genuinely cares about him. Deep down, Marty cares about her, too. If only he could take his eye off the ball and focus on the one in Rachel’s belly.