A review of the award-winning film “Marty Supreme”
This is a rather odd story, but it is told with considerable panache at a frenetic pace with an eclectic score. Set in the early 1950s, it centres on the efforts of young, working-class New Yorker Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) to become the world table tennis champion which will require him to beat Koto Endo, the Japanese player who is the current number one. It is inspired by the real-life Marty Reisman (1930-2012), with the Endo character based partially on Hiroji Satoh, but it is more a character study than a sports movie.
I found it to be a rather sad tale because Marty is so consumed with ambition that he will do anything, however illegal or humiliating, to attain his dream which makes him an unappealing character. Yet Chalamet, in the best performance of his short but already outstanding career, is magnificent in a role in which he is rarely off-screen and for which allegedly he spent seven years in training.
Great credit goes to Josh Safdie who both co-wrote and directed this film and there is an enjoyable appearance by Gwyneth Paltrow. In the end though, this is a movie which I admired more than I liked.