In our opening scene, we build a thriller off of losers desperate for success. A movie that gives us a lot of thematic stepping stones to make this is Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme, following Marty Mauser as played by Timothee Chalamet. Spoilers for the film coming up.
Plot:
Marty Mauser is an ambitious young man with prospects of becoming the US's premier ping pong player, but is currently stuck as a shoe salesman for his uncle to pay for his trip to the British Open. After holding up a store clerk at the shoe store, he takes money he was promised but not paid to go to the trip. On the trip he meets a pen salesman, a famed old Hollywood star, and swindles his way into a room at the Ritz. Despite emerging as the frontrunner, he loses to Japanese underdog Koto Endo. Endo's victory places the Ping Pong world championships in Japan, but Marty ends up lacking the resources to go. Through the film's runtime, Marty will manipulate and swindle strangers, a close friend, his girlfriend, a mob boss, Hollywood star Kay Stone, Pen salesman Milton Rockwell, along with more people to make it to Japan.
By the climax of the film, Marty has stooped down to receiving spankings from ping pong paddles by Rockwell to go to Japan, but after his stay at the Ritz cost him a large bill, he ends up not being able to play. While his deal with Rockwell was to lose in an exhibition with Endo, he challenges Endo to a real match, which he narrowly wins. The film ends with him returning home and having to face his family and girlfriend, the latter of which just gave birth to his child.
Technical Aspects:
As is common with the previous features of the Safdie brothers, Marty Supreme uses extensive close-ups, which are commonly featured in thrillers. The camera movements during ping pong matches are also worth highlighting with frantic movement often attuned to the movement of the ball. The musical score also serves to apply tension with synth overlapping with many of the film's scenes. In scenes that don't require tension, it's common for a song fitting the time period to play.
Performances and Character:
Marty Mauser:
Played by: Timothee Chalamet (A Complete Unknown, Dune, Bones and All)
Marty Mauser is the greatest Ping Pong player in the USA of the 1950s. Throughout the movie he will swindle anyone to make this career choice a success, but his continued tricks constantly screw him over.
Marty exhibits 3 traits throughout the film. Potential, ambition, and selfishness. He exhibits ability to succeed in many careers such as acting and vending, and is also given many outs to avoid consequences or get away. He often loses these outs due to his ambition driving him deeper. His constant insistence that he will succeed drives the film's events and causes complete chaos. His selfishness propels that ambition from potent to extremely dangerous. What's interesting about Marty's writing is while most characters with this negative a light would often be entirely rude, and while he is for most of the runtime, he is shockingly courteous in victory, which just goes to show how he can be better than he is, but his inability to admit defeat and ambitious goals drive him further and further.
Milton Rockwell:
Played by: Kevin O'Leary (Shark Tank)
Milton Rockwell is the head of pen company Rockwell Ink, and is married to former actress Kay Stone. Through Marty he is introduced to the international ping pong community and uses Marty to promote his company.
Rockwell is unique in the fact that he serves a higher purpose than to build on Marty's story. While narratively he does do that, he also is the leading example of the film's commentary about how poor ambitious people struggle and require rich people to fund them. The topic is largely built through two interactions in the film's third act. The first is when Marty, desperate for a chance at competing in Japan, begs Rockwell, who's deal is to spank him with a paddle in the butt multiple times. Marty succumbs to the humiliation. The scene shows the level some professionals may have to stoop two just for a chance of success. Later in the movie when Marty attempts to deviate from Rockwell's plan of him losing to Endo to appease the Japanese people to sell more pens, he refers to himself as a vampire living since 1601. While there is a deleted post credits sequence where he really is a vampire, the statement is more so a metaphor as to how rich people are the ones who control the world and the chances for anyone to succeed.
Rachel Mizler:
Played by: Odessa A'Zion (I Love LA, Until Dawn)
Rachel Mizler is a woman who was married young but is having an affair with Marty. To get away from her husband, she fakes an injury while revealing to Marty that she is pregnant with his child.
Marty Supreme has been criticized for supposed derogative writing of women, but it is frankly on purpose to portray Marty's perspective. Marty believes in ping pong success above all else, so those he sees as an obstacle are portrayed negatively. When Rachel becomes pregnant, his complete admiration of her becomes a fear of settling down, so her character writing becomes manipulative for the sake of Marty's prespective.
Kay Stone:
Played by: Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man, Shakespeare in Love)
Kay Stone is a famed Hollywood actress from the 30s, now married to Pen salesman Milton Rockwell. While staying at the Ritz she encounters Marty Mauser, who manages to infatuate her after a call.
On a similar scope of writing women to Odessa, the character of Kay Stone serves her primary purpose by being a steppingstone for Marty. Where the difference comes between the two is how the character of Rachel grounds Marty in the ways he is stuck in now, while Kay shows who he could be. Within a scene where Marty shows up at her rehearsal for a play, he shows an ability to understand a character's motivation near effortlessly, and managing to show style and finesse within said role. The scene presents one of the many theoretical outs Marty receives, further highlighting the complete damage of his ambition.
Koto Endo:
Played by: Koto Kawaguchi
Koto Endo emerges as an underdog at the British Open, making his way to the finals and usurping Marty Mauser to win, making him a legend in a post-WWII Japan. Endo's skills can be credited partially from his concentration after losing his hearing.
Endo provides a goal for Marty to work towards in the movie. At first, he brings about Marty's worst moment, narrowly blocking his ambitious goals. The chance to challenge Endo once again drives Marty through the movie to cheat his way into the money he needs. After finally securing his chance, he is forced to lose in order to retain his chance to play, but after figuring out that that ship has already sailed, he goes all in and challenges Endo to a "real match." The climax of Marty's character is winning the game, an inevitable last taste of this life he loves before losing it to parenthood.
Meaning:
Thrown Away Opportunities:
One of the most understated ideas presented in Marty Supreme is how successful he could be with any other career. When he shows up at a rehearsal of Kay's for a new show she has, he demonstrates a near immediate understanding of a character whose actor is incapable of grasping. We're also told he is a skilled shoe salesman within the film's first act, demonstrating just how much potential Marty has.
The Ending:
While the ending to Marty's story would be seen as happy for most characters, it is devastating for him. The whole time he has been chasing success in ping pong, but now he is tied to this kid and will inevitably have to settle down, which to him is the greatest crime of all.
Release and Reception:
Marty Supreme's first viewing was a secret screening at the New York Film Festival. The screening at NYFF led to raves, with near universal appraise of every aspect of the film. Upon its official release, Marty Supreme saw continued critical acclaim, landing a B+ on Cinemascore upon release (Uncut Gems, a thriller of similar tone by Josh Safdie and his brother Benny, scored a C+), and quickly becoming A24's highest grossing movie domestically. The film has scored many mentions at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, BAFTA, and the Academy Awards. Chalamet has already won the best Actor award at the second and the Comedy Actor award at the first. He is the frontrunner for the Oscar. The film is the third highest grossing Oscar Best Picture nominee, behind Sinners and F1.
