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<\/p>\n\n\tMarty Reisman was a rather notorious figure from the late 40\u2019s in New York City\u2019s underground table tennis (aka ping pong) world as a young 20-something shark who lured unsuspecting amateur players in and made big bets on himself at Lawrence\u2019s Broadway Table Tennis Club. Later in 1958 and 1960 he would become US Singles Men\u2019s champion in the rather obscure sport, among many other titles he accumulated in his life. He was nicknamed the \u2018needle\u2019 for his quick-talking wit and slender build. <\/p>\n
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\n\tLoosely inspired for his film, Marty Supreme<\/a> on Reisman and a book he wrote about that period as a young man supremely confident in his skills in the game, Josh Safdie<\/a> has made a supremely confident movie about a motor mouth fast talking, brash, ,talented, often arrogant young man named Marty Mauser who longed to ditch his Uncle\u2019s shoe store for what he was sure would be true glory in the world of ping pong, an entity more popular around the globe than in America where it was a bit of a joke in the post-war period of 1952, the year this movie is set. .<\/p>\n \n\tIn other words Marty is a piece of work, surrounded by a domineering mom , pregnant girlfriend who also happens to be married, a need to make cash, and most importantly belief in himself that he could become dominant in a sport that does have credibility only outside of NYC and America and where he can rise to the top. <\/p>\n \n\tWhat Safdie, and his co-writer, co-producer, and co-editor Ronald Bronstein have made is decidedly not a biopic but rather a fictionalized portrait of a \u2018what makes Sammy run\u2019 type of character from the lower east side of NY who scavengers for money \u2013 and yes happiness \u2013 in any way he knows how. With the perfect casting of Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet<\/a> as its title star, you go along for this wild ride of a young man in a hurry, but sometimes his own worst enemy. Chalamet is, as you might expect, just sensational in the role, every bit as commanding as Adam Sandler was in another kinetic deep NYC film of Safdie\u2019s (done with brother Benny), 2019\u2019s similarly manic \u2013 but brilliant \u2013 Uncut Gems about a man trying to survive by wit and grit in NYC\u2019s diamond district. Marty Supreme is unmistakably the work of the same filmmaker who seems drawn to the fringe of New Yorkers living out a dream on the precipice of a nightmare. <\/p>\n \n\tAt a Q&A after the L.A. screening I attended Chalamet opined on who might have played this role in an earlier time, settling perhaps on Al Pacino. Maybe, the younger \u2018Dog Day\u2019 Pacino would have nailed it, but no this film and character goes back earlier to 1961 and Paul Newman\u2019s \u2018Fast\u2019 Eddie Felson, traveling pool hall to pool hall taking in the unsuspecting opponents until it all collapsed. Marty Supreme is Chalamet\u2019s The Hustler, and watching it play out I kept hoping this one was in black and white scope as well, but with the dark skills of cinematographer Darius Khonji we are in good hands. You can just smell this environment and this era, and Chalamet, like Newman before him, is not afraid one bit to play a character who can be so stuck on his own driving dream as to be thoroughly unlikeable at points. This is a new age movie star playing a completely un-movie star role. It will be interesting to see how his younger fans of Wonka and Dune try to warm up to this guy. It doesn\u2019t matter. Chalamet (who is also a producer) deserves the props here, going far beyond nailing the sometimes self-obsessed young Dylan in NY circa a decade later in A Complete Unknown, to capture the adventures of a young man desperate to show the world he is the real deal, even if, like Felson, still waters don\u2019t run that deep. <\/p>\n \n\tBut boy, Marty has a way with a paddle. <\/p>\n \n\tSafdie has populated this film with over 100 colorful characters out of the time and place, with an anxious pace that never lets up for the a bit-long two hour and a half running time. Chief among them is Rachel Mizler (Odessa A\u2019zion), pregnant and married and perfectly matched girlfriend for Marty. She\u2019s the only one in his life pretty much exactly like him, a hustler at heart as well who ratchets up her emotions to extreme levels, ready to take a chance for something different. Then there is Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow<\/a>), a faded actress who gave it all up for a more secure (she thinks) life with mover and shaker ink pen mogul husband, Miltion Rockwell (Shark Tank\u2019s villain Kevin O\u2019Leary). She comes into Marty\u2019s life as the kid tries to convince Rockwell to sponsor him, and take his act to new heights with money he desperately needs to go global. That these two disparate souls get together in a transactional affair seems perfect, one with an ascending dream of the spotlight, one on the other end of it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThere is so much happening here as Marty finds avenues for his unique ping pong talents beyond hustling locals out of their money. He even finds himself the opening act on tour with the Harlem Globetrotters at one point (this actually did happen to Marty Reisman). Another memorable story thread starts with Marty\u2019s bathtub crashing through the floor and directly smashing the ceiling and on to the older resident and his dog in the apartment below, leading to a madcap instant job for Marty and his friend Wally (Tyler Okonma aka Tyler, The Creator in an effective acting debut) to take the traumatized pooch to the vet in another move that doesn\u2019t go well but serves as a thread for this tale to go back to a few times with increasingly harrowing stakes.<\/p>\n \n\tThen there is the table tennis as Marty faces off with competitors with worldwide chops, notably his main nemesis, Koto Endo (played by real life National Deaf Table Tennis Champion Koto Kawaguchi), who serves as sort of a Minnesota Fats opponent (sorry for the repeated The Hustler analogies) for Marty. Chalamet clearly developed some impressive paddle talents on his own to be believable here, aided by CGI though as well, and these sequences are effective as the film jet sets to London, Paris, Tokyo, and Egypt even, as Marty schemes his climb into the big time. <\/p>\n \n\tIn addition to Chalamet, Marty Supreme is boosted by superb performances all around. A\u2019zion is no doubt a breakout talent, mesmerizing on screen here and in another little seen 2025 gem called Pools where she really proves she is one to watch (try to find that one on Amazon or Apple and watch her simply soar plus she also has supporting role in hit new series I Love LA). Hard to believe Paltrow has been off screen for seven years but this return in a supporting role is worth the wait, playing a character ironically who also returns to acting in one particularly memorable rehearsal for a Broadway play that also gets to feature Fred Hechinger as a co-star and none other than David Mamet as the director. Paltrow hasn\u2019t lost a beat and makes her unlikely seduction by Chalamet one that feels authentic for a woman trying to recover what she has lost in her life.<\/p>\n