Review by DIANE DE BEER

MARTY SUPREME

DIRECTOR: Josh Safdie

CAST: Thimothée Chalamet, Odessa A’Zion, Fran Drescher, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler Okonma, Sandra Bernhard, Abel Ferrara

VENUES: Ster Kinekor

 Marty Supreme is a star effort.

The theme of table tennis didn’t thrill me, so I skipped this movie until I heard an interview with the two stars, Chalamet and Paltrow. I was intrigued. 

Then Paltrow came out of self-imposed retirement for her role, which also says something.

Chalamet impressed in Call Me By Your Name, but it was especially the Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown, that caught my attention and that I loved. Paltrow has been away from the screen for some time, yet this role tempted her and she’s back.

It’s the story of Marty Mauser, a shoe salesman with an ambition to become a world star – by using his charm and his ping-pong skills. You have to meet this exuberant, frantically frenetic young man to run with his story. And run you do.

It’s not only the story, but it’s also the performance and the pace, which hardly allows you to catch your breath or debate the deals that are struck to get this young man to his first high-profile tournament in England. This is where he hopes to kickstart his dream of becoming the world champion.

And while Marty is scheming and dreaming all the way, it is as though he is constantly hanging by his nails from the 10^th floor of an apartment building. Forget the image a table tennis tournament might call up in your psyche, it is the choices made by director Safdie that are the real star of the show.

Everything screams originality, and that’s where they really hook me. It’s the way this almost throwback grifter’s tale unfolds, unravels and then picks up speed again as Marty fixes or flinches his way through the latest calamity. It’s not that he means to cheat his way to the top; it’s that he believes if given the chance, he could really make it. It’s his belief that it is owed him that lends his enterprising jockeying the appearance of acceptability. 

When he really wants something, he takes it. And then wiggles his way out of the latest precarious pickle he has singly manufactured to reach his dreams. He is never allowed to forget that he is trespassing in a world that shuns him. Yet, he pushes through.

The fact that Chalamet, with his superstar appearance, was cast is a stroke of genius. You need his talent to pull it off as an actor. They managed to downplay his dreamy, glamorous side, which makes a huge difference. It’s subtle but smart.

Paltrow also plays her part in a role that suits her to a T. She is old-time glamour, she doesn’t have to represent it. And, again, smart choice; it is one of her best performances as she takes risks and pushes boundaries, which she pulls off simply because of who she is – in the film and the real world. 

Lots of contradictions there, but they make it work, especially in today’s world where everything is about appearances, who you are and whether you have money.

It is all the little things that add up to turn this into a story that’s fun, yet keeps the focus on the underlying serious issues. It could all have been a huge mistake, but because of the attention to detail, it works. 

This is Safdie’s first solo effort as director. He had previously written and directed with his younger brother Benny as the Safdie Brothers before they decided that they wanted to follow their individual dreams. If this is how Josh launches his solo effort, his future is one to watch.