Review: ‘Marty Supreme’ hits like a bolt of lightning
2025 / Dir. Josh Safdie
☆ 4.5/5
Watch if you like: Uncut Gems, Catch Me If You Can, and Inside Llewyn Davis but if Llewyn had the energy of a coked-out raccoon and didn’t take no for an answer.
When Timothée Chalamet accepted the award for Best Actor at the SAG Awards in 2025 for his performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, he famously declared that he is “in pursuit of greatness.” “I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats,” he continued. It was a bold and admirable defining statement, more reflective of a locker room interview with an athlete than the acceptance speech of a young heartthrob actor.
Chalamet went on to lose the award for Best Actor at the Academy Awards to Adrien Brody, who won for his role in The Brutalist—a loss that was deeply felt, not necessarily because Timothée deserved it more, but because he wanted it more. Like any of the greats he aspires to be, he’s a competitor, unapologetic of his drive to win. Which is precisely why watching him scheme, plea, and claw his way to the top as table tennis player Marty Hauser in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme hits like a bolt of lightning.
The solo directorial debut of Josh Safdie of The Safdie Brothers (Uncut Gems, Good Time), Marty Supreme kicks off in a bustling post-war New York City (don’t overthink the ‘80s soundtrack, just roll with it and admit to yourself that sports movies sound better with ‘80s music). Loosely based on the life of American table tennis star Marty Reisman, it wastes no time showing us exactly who Marty is, how big his dreams are, and how far he’s willing to go to achieve them. “I’m the ultimate product of Hitler’s defeat,” Marty says to reporters, stamping his proud mark as a Jewish American and athlete whose face is destined for Wheaties-box glory. They laugh, but just like audiences watching Timothée’s SAG acceptance speech, they can’t help but believe in him.
Throughout the film he is—much like a ping pong ball—a moving target, bouncing from one obstacle to another:
At the table at Wembley Stadium, facing off against his great opponent Koto Endo (played by real-life deaf table tennis champion Koto Kawaguchi)
On the lookout after a mishap involving a bathtub, a dog, a ruthless thug (played by director Abel Ferrara), a piss-drunk farmer, and a whole lot of money
On the run from a gang of bros who have just been hustled by Marty and his friend and partner in crime Wally (played by Tyler Okonma a.k.a. Tyler, The Creator)
In and out of the window of his childhood home where conflict is inevitable
In the arms of his melancholy mistress Kay Stone (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) and in the grip of her not-to-be-fucked-with husband and businessman (Kevin O’Leary) whose wealth and resources dangle over Marty’s head like a mouse to a cat
And perhaps most achingly, in the gaze of his childhood friend (Odessa A’zion) and soon-to-be-mother of his baby where the magnetic pull to Earth becomes increasingly harder to ignore from way up there in the clouds.
Marty Supreme makes no effort to give us a hero. He’s a relentless scoundrel in pursuit of a dream and he’ll use anybody as a stepping stone to reach it. And yet, what makes this movie so special, so invigorating, and so powerful is that through the lens of both Marty and Timothée’s pursuit of greatness, you can’t help but feel your own dreams rattle and reawaken while watching it. Who knows what’s in store for Chalamet’s future, but if the film’s final emotional moment doesn’t make him “one of the greats,” I’m not sure what will.