Marty Supreme

There has been so much hype for Marty Supreme but I did not share everyone's enthusiasm for it.  I reluctantly agreed to see it last night at the Broadway with my nephew (who did share everyone's enthusiasm) and I was very surprised by how much I liked it.  Marty Mauser (Timothee Chalamet) is a fast-talking hustler who wants to be the world's best table tennis player even though the U.S. does not support the sport and he must resort to performing half-time shows for the Harlem Globetrotters with the reigning champion Bela Kletzki (Geza Rohrig).  He finds a way to get to a competition in London where he easily defeats Bela but is humiliated by Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi), a player from Japan, in the finals and incurs a fine from the International Table Tennis Association for running up a bill at the Ritz Hotel.  Back home, he is desperate to get the money to pay his fine and get to Tokyo for the World Championships and a chance at a rematch with Endo.  However, he has a series of misadventures with his uncle Murray (Larry "Ratso" Sloman), his childhood friend Rachel (Odessa A'zion), Rachel's husband Ira (Emory Cohen), his friend Wally (Tyler, the Creator), a mobster (Abel Ferrara) and his dog, a homicidal farmer (Penn Gillette), a would-be business partner (Luke Manley), a retired actress hoping to make a comeback (Gwyneth Paltrow), and her businessman husband (Kevin O'Leary).  Marty eventually makes it to Tokyo but he finally learns what is most important.  I was hesitant to see this because I found the character to be very abrasive in the trailers but I actually really enjoyed Marty's arc.  I also didn't think table tennis would be a very compelling subject but, even though it does feature in the narrative, most of the movie involves all of the increasingly absurd situations Marty finds himself in as he tries to get the money he needs and the action moves at a frenetic pace (I was never bored during the long runtime).  Chalamet has been getting a lot of attention for his performance and, while he does do a great job disappearing into the role, I don't think it is the best one this year (Michael B. Jordan is much more impressive in Sinners) nor do I think it is even his best (he blew me away in Dune: Part Two).  I liked this a lot more than I thought I would but I definitely prefer both Good Time and Uncut Gems (they are similar to this but the stakes are much higher for the characters) from the Safdie brothers.

Note:  This is set in the 1950s and features meticulous period verisimilitude in the production design and costumes so I found all of the 1980s music to be a strange choice.