Our Review

                        Movie: MARTY SUPREME

 Rating: R, language throughout, sexual content, some                     violent content/bloody images and nudity

                                       Length: 2:29

                     Release Date: December 25, 2025  

Jeanne: After being robbed of an Oscar for Best Actor last year playing Bob Dylan in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, Timothée Chalamet is back as Marty Mauser in writer/director Josh Safdie’s new chaotic film MARTY SUPREME. Set in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1952, Safdie and his longtime collaborator and co-writer Ronald Bronstein have chosen the world of table tennis to tell their story of chasing a dream.

Marty Mauser spends his days selling shoes in his uncle’s tiny store. He’s only biding his time until he can play in the table tennis championship, which he fervently believes he will win --- thus changing his life completely. His married girlfriend, Rachel Mizler (Odessa A’zion), whom he’s known since they were eight years old, is his biggest supporter.

His second biggest supporter is his best friend, Wally (Tyler Okonma), a fellow table tennis player who drives a cab and has a family. Together they manage to get into a few hijinks, one involving a mob guy’s dog. Marty’s own mother (Fran Drescher) doesn’t share his dream. She just wants him to be around to take care of her. 

When Marty is in London competing for the world championship, he meets Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), a former Hollywood starlet who gave up her career and married the wealthy industrialist Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary), a real piece of work. Their dalliance leads to all sorts of complications --- for both of them.

Unfortunately, in the final round of the competition, Marty faces Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi, a real-life winner of the Japanese National Deaf Table Tennis Championship). Endo is a national hero in Japan where table tennis is very popular. And his table tennis paddle is somewhat unusual --- as is his serve. As Marty battles with Endo, his skill comes to the attention of Rockwell, who makes him an offer only Marty would refuse.

MARTY SUPREME is as fast-paced as Marty speaks. He is focused on becoming an international table tennis star, which he believes will catapult him to fame and fortune. And he will do just about anything to achieve his wild dream. Chalamet is definitely up to the challenge of bringing Marty to life on the screen.

Everything Chalamet attempts he gives 100 percent. Like learning to play the guitar, harmonica and sing like Dylan in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, for MARTY SUPREME he spent seven years perfecting his skills at table tennis. He was so dedicated to looking the part that he would bring tables with him on other film sets so he could continue to practice. And, trust me, he is amazing.

Also amazing are his co-stars, Paltrow, A’zion, Okonma --- and O’Leary --- who plays a “real asshole”, which is what Sofdie wanted --- with aplomb. Paltrow shines as the former starlet, still beautiful but incredibly unhappy. She has perfected that icy stare over the years and it certainly comes in handy here. A’zion’s performance is remarkable --- Rachel is almost as good a hustler as Marty. And the part of Wally was written first, specifically for Okonma, the well-known hip-hop artist, Tyler the Creator. It’s an unbelievably talented cast.

The filming of the table tennis scenes are phenomenal --- truly gripping and exciting --- due to the efforts of director of photography Darius Khondji. Using multiple cameras and wide-angle lenses, he captures the crazy back-and-forth in the matches superbly. Add to that the spectacular production designs by Jack Fisk in his first film with Safdie, and MARTY SUPREME is transformed into 1950s New York City, tenements, mansions, back alley tennis table joints, et al.

David, my illustrious partner, who is sometimes prone to falling asleep, was wide awake for the entire 150 minutes. Describing the film as “wild --- WILD”, MARTY SUPREME is a tumultuous, incredible experience, truly enhanced by the time-sensitive soundtrack by Daniel Lopatin. One of the best movies of the year ---

                      In theaters Christmas Day

Opinion: Strong See It Now!

David: MARTY SUPREME is immensely watchable on at least two levels:

1.   Timothée Chalamet delivers an extraordinary performance as Marty Mauser, which is what we’ve come to expect from him. There is seemingly no role he cannot tackle, and his consistent excellence on the silver screen has put him on par with Leonardo DiCaprio as the two best actors of their generations.

2.            The “forgotten” sport of table tennis is featured in               MARTY SUPREME as Chalamet’s character travels            the globe in pursuit of becoming the best player on              the planet. He begins in his native Lower East Side              of New York in 1952, and competes in London,                      Paris, Tokyo and the pyramids of Egypt before                      returning to NYC. The table tennis rallies are simply              incredible.

As it turns out, like everything he takes on,

Chalamet slaved to bring his table tennis skills to supreme levels --- no pun intended. MARTY SUPREME elevates the simple game of ping pong to phenomenal heights. At various points in the film, Marty is pitted against Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi, real-life winner of the Japanese National Deaf Table Tennis Championships) as his primary competitor.

Director Josh Safdie and his co-writer friend Ronald Bronstein have crafted a story that features over a hundred characters, many of whom have never appeared in a film before. Casting director Jennifer Venditti gives new meaning to discovering a multitude of varied faces wherever she finds them.

Of the recognizable names we know, Fran Drescher plays Marty’s mother, along with small supporting turns from Penn Jillette, David Mamet, Sandra Bernhard and NBA legend George “The Ice Man” Gervin. But it is Gwyneth Paltrow, playing married woman Kay Stone who, despite their age difference, finds herself linked with Marty, at least sexually. It is said she came out of semi-retirement for this role. The two other main characters are Rachel, Marty’s married girlfriend, played by Odessa A’zion, and his buddy cab driver Wally, played by hip-hop artist Tyler Okonma. They all give incredible performances in MARTY SUPREME.

Production designer Jack Fisk, a triple Oscar nominee for THERE WILL BE BLOOD, THE REVENANT and KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, utilized the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey to stage the British Open of table tennis. This included 30,000 square feet of wooden flooring to support dozens of players and thousands of spectators.

MARTY SUPREME is the perfect showcase for Chalamet’s immense talents. His turn here as the fast-talking, supremely confident Marty helps to make a nearly two-and-a-half hour movie about ping pong vastly compelling. Who’da thunk it?

                      In theaters Christmas Day

Opinion: Strong See It Now!