Marty Supreme carried out one of the most extravagant and omnipresent marketing efforts I have seen for a movie in recent memory or maybe even ever. It seemed every corner of the internet was home to Timothee Chalamet’s unheard of marketing antics. One day it was a leaked “marketing meeting”, one day it was being on the Vegas Sphere, he even went so far as to drop his own rap song.
The marketing and anticipation from the New York Film Festival’s standing ovation boiled anticipation to the highest it could have possibly been for a movie supposedly about ping pong. Marty Supreme mania was everywhere you turned and even the snottiest of critics seemed to approve of the movie during exclusive screenings. This sequence of events absolutely BEGS the question. Could a movie about ping pong really be this good? Is the movie really worth all the hype? Was this Timothee Chalamet’s magnum opus?
That is where I come in to answer the question: A ping pong movie earned every bit of the anticipation and delivered “in a way you can’t even imagine.”
How The Movie Delivers: Charm and Acting
Timothee Chalamet delivers the performance of a lifetime in this movie. Chalamet boldly claimed “it’s been seven to eight years where I have been delivering top-level performances” in the press tour leading up to the movie and after viewing his performance in this movie; he has earned all of the respect in my mind to highlight his mastery. Chalamet’s character Marty is the sleeziest wheeler and dealer you could imagine. He is directly characterized as being a poor family member and friend to everyone around him and only sees people for the benefit they can bring to his life. Time and time again, viewers are on this rollercoaster of watching Marty screw over people with his best interest in mind leave them behind as if they weren’t even human. Marty has one purpose in mind and is dead set on winning nationals and becoming the face of ping pong even if it means alienation from all his loved ones.
By pure magic, viewers find themselves rooting for the guy to achieve his dreams despite his flaws and genuine uninterest in anyone other than himself. The portrayal of this character by Chalamet and Josh Safdie (the director) exudes such an intoxicating confidence that you want to root for the guy. Marty reflects the golden American dream that if you are truly dedicated to something enough and fight for it you will be rewarded. The reckless confidence and determination resonates deeply within viewers in a way that may not be logically explicable; it kind resonates with some emotional part of yourself.
Viewers see some of themselves in the exaggerated caricature of Marty Mauser because we all wish we had that drive (minus the poor treatment of others) to relentlessly pursue something and truly give it our all. He seems unfazed regardless of an obstacle and continuously throws all he has at his dream and it’s hard to root against somebody like that. The favor that viewers house Marty leads to a wild ride filled with emotions through the course of the movie and especially in the third act make it wildly engaging. This is where that charm truly lies.
To credit Safdie’s genius even more, the charm of Marty Supreme has been instilled from the trailers where you were assertively presented with two magic words “Dream Big“. That is why the movie is such a force to be reckoned with is because it is so idealistically human and exceptional. We all dream big and we all wish we had the agency of somebody like Marty to chase that dream, just maybe not with the vacancy and lack of empathy.
How Love Elevated a Ping Pong Movie: Rachel
For every compliment I have for Chalamet in this movie I have an equal amount for Odessa A’zion’s portrayal of Rachel Mizler. From the opening of this movie it is made exceptionally obvious to everyone except Marty that Rachel is in love with him.
Despite being continually disregarded and treated like an inferior human being she is there for Marty at every turn of the plot. Having another character constantly attached to our protagonist elevates the stakes of every scene because while Marty is a bad guy and would get what he deserves, Rachel is naive and undeserving of any harm. Her presence through the entire second act along with a masterclass of emotional acting and helplessness from Odessa A’zion elevate the film to a new level. You find yourself as a viewer hoping that this poor girl does not get caught in the crossfire of the antics entailed with being Mrs. Marty Mauser and even more mesmerized by the pure belief she has in Marty and lengths she is willing to go to support his dream.
That is why Rachel is such an excellently portrayed character: she believes in Marty’s dream wholeheartedly. To love somebody who’s entire life is their goals is to believe in that dream almost as much as they do. Rachel’s recklessness and undying belief in Marty helps her slowly navigate her way into viewers hearts through the movie and allows it to carry the same weight to viewers as it does to Marty. I find it to be such an idealistic and beautiful portrayal of love and support that someone could value somebody to the extent that Rachel does that she is willing to constantly look past his flaws.
Rachel brings a much needed sense of humanity and empathy back to the movie and is the catalyst for an ending for the ages. To understand the ending you first need to understand where the empathy in Marty’s life changed from and understand that Rachel is the unsung hero and driving force behind the empathy and humanity that we are able to see at the end of the movie. This movie without a doubt is made by it’s characters and the portrayal of them which leads to what I believe to be the best ending possible.
How misdirection created a masterful ending: The Final Showdown
Sports movies stick to a trope. Rocky wins the fight at the end, the player makes it out of the rough neighborhood, the scrawny kid who nobody suspected turns out to be the man. We as a society eat up endings like this because they feel amazing and encapsulate the beauty of sports. Despite the nightmarish and sweat-inducing second act, we find ourselves right where we expected in the third act. We patiently sit down to see how Marty can weasel his way into the championship and bring glory to himself and reward him for such dedication. Viewers find themselves on the edge of their seats anticipating this exact trope.
But it never comes. Instead, the ending is so much better than I could have ever dreamt of myself. This movie was never a romanticization of being a jerk in order to achieve your goals. Marty Supreme is no Rocky; instead we are treated to something much more insightful and valuable as viewers while still being delivered the euphoric victory. This movie was never about the journey of a ping pong player to stardom. It was about a boy growing into a man by realizing what actually matters.
Fortunately for viewers, we are still delivered quite literally what may be one of the coolest scenes ever in the final showdown between reigning champ Endo and Mauser. I can not begin to describe the adoration I have for the final ping pong sequence; it was a perfect scene down to every detail. The entire moment was electric and it almost makes viewers want to cry alongside Mauser when everything he has fought for the entire runtime of the movie happens… and then we are transported back to reality.
Marty Supreme is not real life. You will never find fulfillment from being the best ping pong player or the smartest person or even as rich as you could possibly imagine. This is subtly yet deliberately illustrated to us the entire movie. We are shown an actress rich beyond anyones imagination yet unsatisfied with every aspect of our life repeatedly. That is the moral of the story and foreshadowing of the message that the Safdie’s were trying to get across all along. Winning the ping pong match would have never fulfilled Marty and it seems to hit him in the last couple of scenes. His priorities shift from himself to somebody else for the first time in his life.
Marty Supreme is a celebration of humanity disguised as a sports feel-good movie. The movie ends with Marty seeing his newborn son and tearing up at the sight of him. Our protagonist has now seen that there are bigger things in life than his goals and aspirations: other people. Chasing your goals will never fulfill somebody if the means to them is isolation from other humans and disregard who loves them. Fulfillment is people who love you for who you are, such as Rachel, and bring genuine purpose to your life. A human’s purpose is far beyond being the best at a craft but rather how you pour yourself into others and brighten their lives.
That is where the exceptionality of Marty Supreme lies. It is portrayed as an epic ping pong movie but under all of the charm and thrill it is a story about somebody who dreamed big and ended up with something larger than life.