Marty Supreme (15)
Directed by Josh Safdie
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

DREAM big or go home seems to be the overriding message of Josh Safdie’s exhilarating solo directorial debut feature which makes table tennis appear thrilling and, dare I say, even sexy.

Although that maybe a stretch, the film’s star and producer Timothee Chalamet, channelling his character Marty Mauser, has been going all out to support and promote Marty Supreme (plus his orange ping-pong balls) in which he absolutely excels. 

The film, co-written by Safdie and his longtime collaborator Ronald Bronstein, is inspired by the late US table tennis legend Martin Reisman. 

Set in early 1950s New York, Chalamet plays a quintessential dreamer who is determined to become world table tennis champion, whatever it takes. Marty, a shoe salesman, is a grifter, a chancer, a charmer and the most relentless optimist who does not take no for an answer. He has no qualms in using people, including his best friend (Tyler the Creator) and pregnant lover/childhood friend (Odessa A’zion), to achieve his aims. 

Chalamet spent six years training to become proficient in ping-pong. It certainly paid off as he is truly convincing to watch as a player. All the table tennis scenes are absolutely gripping and nail-biting.  

Chalamet gives the performance of his career to date embodying Marty’s never-ending energy, youthful exuberance and self-belief and worth. Failing isn’t in his vocabulary. That includes when he sets his sights on seducing former Hollywood star Kay Stone, played superbly by Gwyneth Paltrow in her first film appearance in six years. 

Meanwhile Kay’s uber-rich husband (an impressive Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary) is both Marty’s benefactor and nemesis, and is bone chilling when he humiliates Marty in front of his fellow wealthy friends in order to put him in his working-class place. 

This is an audacious and imaginative fast-paced drama in which Marty represents the US’s postwar bravado, cockiness and ambition, while Japanese world table tennis champion Koto Enzo (Koto Kawaguchi, real-life winner of the Japanese National Deaf Table Tennis Championships), who Marty is desperate to beat, symbolises Japan’s quest for survival and renewal at that time. 

Marty Supreme is hard to pigeonhole but it is both funny yet surprisingly violent and intense. The main takeaway though is pursue your dreams no matter the size. This is a definite must see.

In cinemas December 26.