Marty Supreme - A Movie Review

It’s every man for himself where I come from.

Marty Supreme is a 2025 film. Marty Mauser, a professional table tennis player, stops at nothing to reach his global quest for stardom. That involves cheating the system, hustling, and endangering others with every pursuit of fame.

I watched Marty Supreme at the Cabot Theatre, an excellent cinema-watching experience. The best part about movies is when they surprise you. Marty Supreme is about a ping-pong championship. That’s only a quarter of it. Marty Supreme takes audiences through a chaotic adventure of a man who cheats the system to get by in life.

Nobody could have played Marty Mauser like Timothee Chalomet, who is loosely based on Marty Reisman, a table tennis sensation. Marty is a conniving tyke who has exceptional skills, charm, and is a deft ping pong player. It’s impressive what challenges Marty is put through, and still walks away with victory when he shouldn’t.

To achieve his character’s skillful table tennis talent, Chalomet trained while working on other projects. When he was swirling chocolate in Wonka or playing the guitar in his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, he was practicing table tennis for this upcoming film. It’s a fun anecdote on how actors prepare for their roles.

Marty Supreme contains a strong ensemble of actors. Gwyneth Paltrow plays a saucy actress who has brief romantic encounters with Marty. She knows Marty’s intentions, and yet she abides.

More credits include Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher, and several more characters who have ties or challenge Marty. There were several non-actors in the film, like a rapper, Tyler the Creator, and a basketball player, Tracy McGrady.

Marty Supreme has skillful direction by Josh Safdie, who worked with his brother Benny Safdie on Uncut Gems (2019). This film marks Josh Safdie’s first solo directorial venture. Authenticity, energy, and timing were Sadie’s main goals. Every scene pulses with a back-and-forth energy that mirrors the sport at the heart of the film: table tennis.

The table tennis scenes are directed with precision. Acclaimed cinematographer Darius Khondji shot the film in 35 mm film with an old-school anamorphic lens. Safdie and Khondji devised complex editing strategies to capture shots that feel as real as possible.

“Isn’t this movie about ping pong?” I asked myself throughout the film. Precisely. Only a quarter of it is table tennis. If table tennis were the center focus, it would have been the most boring film ever. The shenanigans may seem irrelevant, but they’re important to Marty’s deceitful nature.

Marty Supreme and Uncut Gems have similar themes and setups in all the erratic chaos that ensues. To put it lightly, Marty Supreme is a tad more pleasant than Uncut Gems, but there is incessant yelling, violence, and stressful situations. The gunfights weren’t my favorite.

Since returning to movie theaters after the pandemic, I have paid more attention to audience reaction. Audience reaction is my favorite part of movie experiences. Watching Marty Supreme at the 100+ year-old Cabot Theatre was the best time ever as audiences erupted in laughter. Nobody could believe the chaos that Marty gets himself into.

So much chaos happens that I run out of fingers to count everything on. Marty crashing through the ceiling in the bathtub wins the award as the funniest scene ever! Other than that, I can’t give away more. The key is to walk into this movie totally blind.

I enjoyed the film more than I thought I would. Marty Supreme is meant to be watched on the big screen, like all cinema.