MARTY SUPREME (2025)

★★★★☆

Director Josh Safdie last delivered the anxiety-inducing Uncut Gems(2019) alongside his brother, Benny. This year, Benny helmed The Smashing Machine, a paint-by-numbers MMA biopic, while Josh has produced Marty Supreme — another film about a man with chutzpah whose confidence only serves to dig him deeper into a hole.

Set in 1952 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the story follows Marty Hauser (Timothée Chalamet), an overconfident, skinny Jewish kid working in a shoe shop to fund his ping-pong career. Marty — a mostly fictional character loosely inspired by the real-life table tennis player and entrepreneur Marty Reisman — believes in himself, but much like the sport of padel, he’s underrated, underfunded, and perpetually on the verge of becoming the next big thing. No one can convince Marty he isn’t a star, and it’s precisely this delusion that lands him in trouble.

Marty relies on self-belief because nobody around him shares it. His overbearing mother (Fran Drescher), his childhood friend and married lover Rachel (Odessa A’zion), and his wider circle, all believe he should start taking life more seriously. However, despite his unlikable nature, there’s something about Marty that compels people to follow his lead. His conviction is strangely infectious, though his associates soon learn that involvement in Marty’s schemes rarely ends well.

An early indicator of the lengths Marty will go to achieve international stardom occurs when he holds a colleague at gunpoint to secure the wages his boss owes him. He uses this money to travel to England for a table tennis championship. It’s here that the film stalls and reveals its true hand: it’s not a sports movie, but a character study of a fiercely determined and eccentric young man.

In London, Marty becomes enraged when he isn’t treated like the star he imagines himself to be. Consequently, he blags his way into The Ritz, where he meets Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her pen-magnate husband Milton (Kevin O’Leary). Kay’s a former movie star attempting a Broadway comeback, entirely financed by her snarky husband. Marty instantly spots a moneymaking opportunity, attempting to woo her and charm his way into her spouse’s pockets.

His romance with Kay doesn’t quite yield the fortune he anticipates, as Milton remains immune to Marty’s charms. It hardly helps that the young sportsman’s “charm offensive” involves insulting the American army, trivialising the war (in which Milton lost his son), and making a crude Holocaust joke. The film features several shocking moments as Marty’s mouth moves faster than his brain can process. It’s difficult not to be impressed by Ronald Bronstein’s screenplay, co-written with Josh Safdie, which is bold and ballsy in ways Hollywood typically avoids. There’s a touch of Marty’s own spirit in the writing; it confidently rocks the boat without hiding behind allegory or metaphor. Even if you dislike it, you’ll certainly remember it.

The majority of Marty Supreme follows our eponymous lead as he tries to charm his way into the lives and wallets of those he encounters on his path to glory. However, success eludes this plucky young man. As the narrative progresses, Marty digs himself into an ever-deepening hole. What begins as a quest for fame and fortune soon devolves into a cautionary tale about the cost of the American Dream.

On his journey of scamming and hustling, he brings along his childhood friend Wally (rapper Tyler Okonma, aka the Creator, making an impressive film debut), and a now heavily pregnant Rachel. They soon find themselves embroiled in a table tennis scam, chasing a runaway dog, and inhabiting a house full of orange ping-pong balls. Wherever you imagine the plot is heading, it is likely going elsewhere.

At over two hours, Marty Supreme does suffer from its length. As Marty makes new friends and enemies, the film wanders off on various tangents. The fundamental problem with Marty’s life is that regardless of his efforts, he ends up back where he started. While this serves as a cautionary tale for the hero, it can wear thin for the viewer. Several scenes could have been removed from the final cut without impacting the overall story.

Chalamet is undoubtedly firing on all cylinders. His performance is so charismatic that it takes time to notice that Marty is actually a sleazy and rather unpleasant individual. He perfectly embodies Marty’s fast-paced, motormouthed nature, effortlessly shooting his mouth off in almost every scene. Furthermore, Chalamet’s happy to embrace the character’s less attractive traits, such as his greasy hair and acne-scarred skin; it’s a wonderfully unvain performance from the young star.

The actors been on a high-profile press tour, channelling the table tennis player’s cockiness into his interviews. The issue is that he occasionally appears to be playing himself rather than the character, which detracts slightly from the performance. Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that Chalamet is a star whose skills are maturing with age.

The Safdies have a penchant for “meta-casting,” which is executed effectively here. Gwyneth Paltrow, in her first role in five years, radiates an old-Hollywood glamour that contrasts perfectly with Marty’s gritty New Yorker attitude. Casting her as an actress from a bygone era clinging to relevance feels pointed, but it works thanks to her natural sparkle.

O’Leary is the second shrewd casting choice as Milton. In his first acting role, O’Leary — who found fame as an investor on Shark Tank (the US version of the UK’s Dragon’s Den) — recreates his persona of the brutally honest, blunt, and polarising businessman. He provides young Marty with a much-needed, if unwelcome, dose of reality.

Like Uncut Gems, Marty Supreme is fast-paced and frantic to the point of exhaustion. Although some may argue Safdie is repeating himself, the film is an enjoyable ride. While it slightly overstays its welcome, it is never boring and remains entirely unpredictable. You will never know where the story is headed next, nor what word will next fly out of Marty’s mouth.

FINLAND • USA | 2025 | 150 MINUTES | 2.39:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH • JAPANESE

Cast & Crew

director: Josh Safdie.
writers: Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie.
starring: Timothèe Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara & Fran Drescher.