Timothee Chalamet is one of my favourite actors working. He’s arguably the most consistent actor in the game currently and with 2 Oscar nominations under his belt already, many believe that 3rd time could really be the charm. He certainly wants to be remembered as a great in the field, and won’t stop til he reaches his dream. His latest film, Marty Supreme, has had him on one of the most vigorous marketing schemes I’ve ever seen, appearing on every show possible, performing stunts and wearing incredible merch.
Marty Supreme tells the story of Marty Mauser, a young man with aspirations of being the best table tennis player in the world, but with financial issues and a new star in the sport on the rise, it won’t be as easy as he hoped.
Chalamet’s performance is his career’s best so far. Last year, felt like a relatively weak year in the Best Actor in a Leading Role category, and it always felt like it was going to be Chalamet vs Adrien Brody, with Brody ending up taking home the Oscar. Chalamet will have a similar battle again this award season, this time likely going up against Leonardo DiCaprio and possibly Ethan Hawke. I think Chalamet does currently have the edge in that race, but we’ll see how it plays out, DiCaprio being the only ones of those 3 to have won an Oscar. He completely sinks into this character, every single line, every single moment is delivered perfectly, as he does in every film he’s in.
It doesn’t feel like it’s been 6 years since we last had a film directed by the Safdie Brothers, with their last being Uncut Gems. This film wasn’t in fact directed by both of them, but rather just Josh Safdie on his own, meanwhile Benny Safdie was directing The Smashing Machine which has also been in the discussion this award season. I haven’t seen The Smashing Machine yet, but it’s awards discussion does certainly seem to be declining, and yet this film is only on the up. There’s a lot of tonal similarities between Marty Supreme and Uncut Gems, particularly the tenseness of certain moments, and then lightness and humour of other moments.
I think this is an almost perfectly written film, again Josh Safdie down as one of the writers alongside Ronald Bronstein, who’s a writer on both of the Safdie brother’s previous films. The dialogue is perfectly written and both match the performances from everyone involved and the tone created by the script and the director.
My only issue with the film however comes from the run time of the film, coming at a 2 and a half hours it’s a long one, and particularly when the film starts off quickly it then leaves a bit of a lull before it gets back into gear again. And I genuinely think that’s the only thing that stops me from pushing it to a perfect 5/5, comparatively to it’s award season competitor One Battle After Another which is 13 minutes longer, but didn’t feel it, as it’s so constantly on the go and paced perfectly. Ironically both films have relatively similar tones.
A quick shout-out to the supporting cast. Odessa A’zion does a fantastic role as the main supporting actress in the film, playing one of Marty’s neighbours that gets tied up in his life. I think she does a fantastic job, almost matching Chalamet in the film, doing exactly what she needs and Odessa and Timothee have great chemistry throughout the film. Gwyneth Paltrow also has recieved acclaim for her role in this film, and certainly delivers when she’s onscreen a performance we haven’t seen from her in a long time, but a lack of screen time might hinder her chances of an Oscar nomination, and I’d give the edge to A’zion if I had to choose.
Overall, Marty Supreme is a gripping, tense, edge of your seat type film with incredible performances, especially from Timothee, who I hope finally gets that Oscar he richly deserves. It was also fantastic to see this film in almost sold out screening, meaning hopefully this film will pick up some positive word of mouth which helps bolster it’s box office, especially at a time when cinema experiences feel in jeopardy.
What did you think of Marty Supreme?
Flooders Films 
Leave a comment