Marty Supreme 2025
I was worried this movie would be a lot like Uncut Gems which I couldn't stand. But the movie has a lot of Oscar buzz, so I wanted to see it at the theater if possible. I had every reason to be worried because it turns out this movie has the same writer and director as Uncut Gems and is a very similar movie. What saves this movie from being horrible is Timothee Chalamet has more charisma and his character has real talent, namely one of the top ping pong (even in the 1950's they were apparently trying to get people to call it table tennis) players in the world, not that it is doing him a lot of good. The movie is very, very loosely based on a real ping pong player from New York, also named Marty and that has to be about where it stops (though there are some interesting and icky true elements, which I will put in a spoiler). This isn't a typical sports movie, it is more just about this hustler and shameless self-promoter trying to take his talent for ping pong as far as it will go, but always being held back by his own deep flaws and some uncontrollable events. He is one of those guys constantly on the verge of making it and promising everyone to pay them back or make something up to them, but you know it will never happen. He seldomly redeems himself, though he has a couple of more human scenes, which unfortunately means maybe the only reason you like him is he is great at this third rate sport and you kind of feel sorry for him. He does play some very good ping pong in a few scenes, but you know the ball is CGI. Ultimately I kind of enjoyed the movie, as crazy and terrible as it is. Chalamet is good, but it is a flashy role with some big acting. The direction is a little heavy handed with some weird choices and odd close ups. There are a lot of neat side characters to keep things interesting. I was thinking it would be more historical, but all of the characters are ficitional, only occasionally based on real characters. The gangland level of violence was a real surprise. Although set in the 1950's, a lot of the music is from the 1980's, which felt off.
Written: 07 Jan 2026