Marty Supreme (2025)

Supreme Hustle - Marty Supreme review by griggs

Marty spends the whole film insisting he’s a star; Timothée Chalamet quietly proves he already is. Marty Supreme sits between sports movie, grifter comedy and full-on meltdown, following a ping-pong prodigy who carves his “destiny” out of everyone else’s time and money. Safdie shoots 50s New York like a grimy daydream and then slaps 80s bangers over the top, turning the period into a post-modernist myth rather than straight nostalgia.

When it sticks with Marty scheming and scrambling, this absolutely cooks. The trouble is it keeps wandering off into side quests and replaying the same beats, so you really do feel the extra half-hour hanging off it. The table-tennis itself is weirdly flat – the results feel decided from the first serve. Chalamet still drags it through the bloat with a restless, live-wire turn. Under all the sweat and synths, it’s about how male “purpose” steamrollers everyone around it.

Odessa A’zion gives the story its bruised heart as Rachel, while Gwyneth Paltrow’s fading star Kay makes the satire bite a little harder. One image stuck with me: a box of Marty Supreme balls bursting open and orange spheres spilling across the street, his big dream literally bouncing away from him. The film’s at its best when those scams – orange balls, cheap jewellery, a stolen dog and all – smack into the people who actually pay the price.

That final scene, with Marty finally sounding honest – or putting on the best honesty act you’ve ever seen – leaves a satisfying itch rather than neat closure. I walked out impressed and a bit uneasy. In the year of duelling solo Safdies, Marty Supreme edges out The Smashing Machine – more character, less macho myth; the ping-pong hustler beats the MMA bruiser on sheer nerve.

A Mess - Marty Supreme review by KB

I thought this was a poor film. There isn't much to the story & it's not well told at all .A poor table tennis player who wins an exhibition match at the end with some silly sub plots along the way about a dog he is looking after , some honey bees & some domestic issues & that's about it. It's all very disjointed .irritatingly noisy in places & far fetched & silly. Also ,for a film about a table tennis player you hardly see him playing until the end.

Brilliantly Acted Drama About An Unpleasant Character - Marty Supreme review by GI

An absurdist character study of a quite unpleasant chancer wrapped up in a film that could be mistaken for a sports movie but which doesn't go down that line at all. There's no doubt the performances here are exemplary and potentially award winning especially Timothée Chalamet in the title role and Gwyneth Paltrow as a former movie star (a shout out to for Abel Ferrara in a cameo role that is quite sinister too). Marty Mauser is a shoe salesman in the early 50s New York who has a talent as a table tennis player. It's not a popular or well known sport in the US but Marty sees his chance for fame and glory within it and totally believes in himself. But when he's runner up to a calm and brilliant Japanese player in the British Open Championships Marty sees that he has to find a way to get into the World Finals in Japan and beat his nemesis. To do this he will con and manipulate his way through friends, girlfriends and various relatives with little, if any, conscience. This includes his married girlfriend who is carrying his baby and famous actress Kay (Paltrow) who he cons into his bed and her rich, but ruthless, businessman husband (Kevin Leary) who gets his revenge on Marty in a quite sadistic way. This is a frenetic film that comprises of a series of set piece incidents that show Marty as a deeply narcissistic exploiter out for his own ends. There's nothing redeeming about him at all despite an apparent attempt by the end of the film to sort of show he has finally found something worthwhile other than himself. There are some quite shocking scenes that are wrapped up in a slapstick style story that is very authentic looking but which leaves you a bit empty. You'll either think the pure craziness of this film is a marvel or that you've watched a film about a very unpleasant young man who deserves the tears he feels at the end despite the poignancy with which the final scene is delivered. Interesting film with great performances and no doubt it will be on the award circuit but I was left a little underwhelmed by it.