“Marty Supreme” A Gripping, Unpredictable Journey of Greatness

The film “Marty Supreme” has been one of the most buzzed-about films that came out towards the end of last year. After gaining a lot of momentum at the box office and the awards season, the film was named one of the top ten films of 2025 by the National Board of Reviews and the American Film Institute.

At the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, the film was nominated for three awards: Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Screenplay and Best Actor - Musical or Comedy (for which Timothee Chalamet ended up winning). So, now that I was finally able to check out one of the most buzzed-about films of the last year, let’s get into it!

Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness. In the 1950s, young Mauser pursued his dream of becoming a champion table-tennis player.

The Golden Globe-nominated film “Marty Supreme” is an intense, character-driven film that delivers incredible performances, a fast-paced story (for the most part) and a completely unpredictable film that can have you on the edge of your seat in a way. Even though a good part of the story can have a decent pace, it can drag for a little bit towards the middle of the film

Timothee Chalamet really gave it his all to give a captivating and intense performance as the film’s very complex antihero. Now, the reason why I call his character an antihero is that even though Marty would do just about anything to achieve his table tennis dreams, he means it.

Throughout the film, Marty manipulates people through his charismatic charm, even to the point of scamming relationships and tarnishing reputations through his self-centered pursuit of success. With Chalamet’s raw and career-defining performance, he has the ability to make an unlikeable character somewhat likeable. And there are a few times where I couldn’t decide whether to root for Marty or not during his pursuit of greatness.

Believe it or not, director Josh Safdie did an incredible job making the table tennis sequences truly stand out and make them a bit on the intense side. Quite a few of the table tennis scenes are done using long, uncut takes which can actually heighten the tension, unlike some quick-cut sports scenes. However, there are a few times throughout those long takes where you can easily tell the performers were using a CGI ping pong ball.

“Marty Supreme” delivers quite a few energetic and memorable table tennis sequences, especially with the final match. During this final match, Marty defies a ruthless tycoons orders to throw an exhibition match in Japan. There’s also a moment at the end where Marty ends up meeting his newborn son, and in a rare moment, breaks down, showing a moment of true vulnerability unrelated to his quest for greatness.

“Marty Supreme” is an intense, chaotic film about ambition, ego, and the obsessive pursuit of greatness. The film also has a unique blend of gritty realism and surrealism and some audience members could have a little bit of a tough time deciding whether to root for the main character (Marty) or not.

Cast: Timothee Chalamet (Marty Mauser); Gwyneth Paltrow (Kay Stone); Odessa A’zion (Rachel Mizler); Kevin O’Leary (Milton Rockwell); Tyler, the Creator (Wally); Abel Ferrero (Ezra Mishkin; Fran Drescher (Rebecca Mauser); Luke Manley (Dion Galanis); Geze Rohrig (Bela Kletski); Koto Kawaguchi (Koto Endo).

Writer/director: Ronald Bronstein (writer) and Josh Safdie (co-writer and director) (both Bronstein and Sadie also wrote “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems”).

MPA: Rated R for language throughout, sexual content, some violent content/bloody images and nudity   (runtime 150 minutes)

Trivia: The film is loosely based on the life of table tennis champion, hustler, entertainer, and entrepreneur Marty Reisman (1930-2012). “Marty Supreme” premiered at the 63rd New York Film Festival as a surprise screening and director Josh Safdie revealed at the screening’s introduction that he actually finished the film at two in the morning the night prior.

Make sure to keep on checking my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook to see what other new and recent releases I plan on checking out for the Examiner. I will be posting on my page soon the Winter Film Festival selections that I plan on checking out!

• Géza Röhrig's character Béla Kletzki is based on Polish table tennis player Alojzy "Alex" Ehrlich. After spending four years in Auschwitz, he was sent to Dachau, where he was saved from the gas chamber because the Nazis recognized him as a world champion. The honeycomb story is real, as detailed in Marty Reisman's autobiography.

• Timothée Chalamet had been training in table tennis since 2018 to prepare for his role. He continued his training while working on other films, including Wonka (2023), Dune: Part Two (2024), The French Dispatch (2021), and A Complete Unknown (2024), by traveling with a table.

• The film is loosely based on the life of table tennis champion, hustler, entertainer, and entrepreneur Marty Reisman (1930-2012).

• Premiered at the 63rd New York Film Festival as a surprise screening. Josh Safdie revealed in the screening's introduction that he finished the film at 2am the night prior.

• Marty Supreme marks Josh Safdie's first solo directorial venture since The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008) and the first narrative film he had written and directed without his brother and long-time creative partner Benny Safdie, as the brothers ended their partnership after the release of Uncut Gems (2019) to explore solo careers.

• Surpassed Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) as the highest-grossing A24 film domestically. Everything Everywhere All at Once remains the highest-grossing worldwide.

• Chalamet named Robert Rossen's The Hustler (1961) and Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money (1986) as references for the film.