Marty Supreme is the next great American classic with an all-timer ensemble led by a legend in the making Timothée Chalamet. In what feels in the vein of Saturday Night Fever, Josh Safdie and co-writer Ronald Bronstein create an electric, pulse-racing myth of the chase to be great but the trappings of the American dream. 

‘Biopics’ centering around fictional characters that feel all too true have become reliable as storytelling devices to explore complex characters through real issues, traumas, and day-to-day turbulences as we’ve seen with TÁR or Inside Llewyn Davis. What better way to dive into the desire to be one of the greats than a fictional ping pong player in the 1950’s? Josh Safdie was given a copy of Marty Reisman’s 1974 autobiography ‘The Money Player’ and had already been in talks with Timothée Chalamet but realized Reisman’s physical similarities made Chalamet a perfect match for a new take on the New York and American champion table tennis player. Marty Supreme is not a Reisman biopic but takes the elements of his drive for greatness and creates a completely original, propulsive character study on the fictional Marty Mauser with Reisman serving as an entry point into the world of ping pong. What does it mean to be the best and what does it take and sacrifice along to chase your dreams? So often you hear of geniuses and the greatest of their crafts described as ‘not a people person’ or read their personal lives were in turmoil. Much of this you can assume has to do with the sacrifices they make within their personal lives, the lack of attention given from them to the people within their non-professional circles. For me, what always makes a character driven story more interesting is someone who is not the kindest, that makes terrible decisions. Marty is consistently making stupid decisions and usually at the cost of the people who support him because they love him. His friends, and some of his family, want to be there just to see Marty feel happy, feel fulfilled by achieving his dream. Marty Supreme excels in making you care for this compelling yet tempestuous character; you want him to win while simultaneously sort of hoping he loses to learn his bad behavior shouldn’t be rewarded; it’s an insane balance and Safdie alongside co-writer Ronald Bronstein together arise to the occasion.  

Marty Supreme follows Marty in his quest to become a world champion in ping pong. The world is built with enough detail you feel familiar in the New York scene of table tennis; the clubs to practice, the regular players both old and new, and that Marty is a known entity despite working as a shoe salesman. The film opens with it becoming clear the girl in his life, although not his girlfriend, Rachel (Odessa A’zion), becomes pregnant after a passionate in the shoe closet hook up. Marty seems distracted outside of their sex, it’s not that he doesn’t care about her, it’s that all he cares about is ping pong and the dream to be the best. He’s focused on the concern of getting orange ping pong balls and his paycheck to get to the qualifying match that will get him to the championship to prove what he already knows, he’s the best. The ping pong sequences at the qualifying match are absolutely electric, something I never thought I’d say about ping pong if we’re being honest, but the way Safdie captures the pulsating energy is unreal. Shots displaying the uniform look of every table match, paddle and technique almost identical until we get to Koto Endo (played by real-life table tennis champion Koto Kawaguchi). His paddle is completely different, almost mid-century looking with its sleek design, his serve is a different approach and his demeanor a stark opposite to all players, but especially Marty’s. Endo is not just calm and collected but he seems centered. A later detail explains he’s unable to hear allowing for his ability to follow the rhythm of the ball and dial in. The matches throughout the film between Marty and Endo are explosive. You can feel both of them know they’re the best, this is their true test and competition to challenge this idea in their head and prove it not just to the crowd but to themselves. Bronstein and Safdie expertly craft the concept of arrogance versus confidence through these very two different types of athletes; not just their attitudes but their physical stance and the way their interactions with those around them are crafted. 

The story of Marty is impeccably filled in with the perfect ensemble cast (masterful casting director Jennifer Venditti) with a mix of actors and some non-actors in their film debuts. His challenging mother is played by iconic Fran Drescher; she’s not given much to do but she is very reassuring in her scenes as a familiar face in an anxious role quite never understanding Marty’s dream. Marty’s table tennis and partner in sometimes literal crime, Wally features Tyler Okonma in his debut and while the film could use more of him, he’s absolutely magnetic. His screen presence is so special and feels the start of a brilliant acting career ahead. A’zion as Rachel is completely dazzling, a star-is-born moment as she’s given so many things to do and what could be a typical throwaway girlfriend role is elevated entirely by her performance. Marty Supreme is the Timothée Chalamet show but none of the characters truly feel there to strictly serve Marty, they all have something going on and being contributed to their own lives that we get glimpses into, specifically with both of the main female characters. With Rachel, her character is constructed to always be thinking of how to be in Marty’s life, how to act to get his attention, but this crippling fear of aging out of her dream;  while we see her dream as being with Marty, given the setting of the film, it’s easy to feel the weight of her dream being what was pushed onto women so visibly in this time, get married and start a family. Contrasting with a younger Rachel is a more mature Kay Stone (a brilliant Gwyneth Paltrow). Kay’s entire structure mirrors Marty’s story and Rachel’s predicament. Kay gave up her dream as a successful actress, settled down, got married and had a family, and at what cost? She’s no longer the desirable young woman to audiences and has been on a hiatus, when she returns, she’s older and not what general audiences want from stars. Even Marty is written to not truly understand who she is, he just knows she’s one of the greats from the way people around her gawk at her. Paltrow is breathtaking every second she’s on screen; she uses every moment to remind you why she’s that enchanting, dazzling Oscar winner. Her character could easily be discarded by someone who doesn’t understand what Kay is meant to represent; Kay is what Marty thinks a painful future could be for himself if he takes his eye off the prize, a once upon a time great. And at the same time, you see Kay battling internally the emotional burden of her decision at one point in time. When you’re young, you don’t realize the weight of how one choice can change your life forever, that you’ll forever be dealing with the repercussions of something you decide on. In the 1950’s, marriage and having a child was simply the objective provided to women. Kay had a career, a life, but needed security on some level, so she chose to get married, stop acting and pursue a family. She didn’t realize it wasn’t just that she gave up her career but the dream of being an actress gave her a passion she couldn’t find elsewhere. When Kay looks at Marty, she sees the chance she gave up. Women then weren’t able to be arrogant in their attitudes of being the best and focusing on their careers and dreams (on some level today, still cannot be in the same vein as a man). Women were expected to be courteous, accepting of their roles and polite in supporting their husbands. Kay on some level resents Marty for the dream he’s chasing and passion he has on his quest to achieve it, but she also admires him for the exact same aspect. Paltrow is absolutely a marvel here and delivers an unforgettable performance. On the other side of Kay is her husband, the king of a pen empire, Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary). As much as I’d rather not praise the man, O’Leary is incredible and undeniably one of the best performances in the film. He’s acted before but only as an extension of himself, Mr. Wonderful. The conditioning audiences familiar with his persona have allow for you to have this instant dislike of him before he even does or says anything. Once Milton finally becomes part of the Marty plot, he’s completely riveting and entirely someone you’re always rooting against but see why he succeeds. He’s such a brilliantly written character as it takes what you know about businessmen using to climb ahead but he has this childish wonder about the sport of ping pong that does come from somewhere genuine. He has a few scenes I felt like I was levitating during and man, the guy can actually act… 

The pacing only ever slows down with the subplot of the dog and Ezra (a masterful Abel Ferrara), which is more due to the writing and how repetitive this feels, directly uplifted from Good Time. While everything to do with the dog is necessary for where the story and Marty’s arc is headed, it just goes on too long and feels the only part of the story segmented from the rest. It’s completely necessary to see how Marty is at fault and causes this harm with his carelessness and refusal to take any responsibility, we just could have gotten there with a tighter tale. The runtime is far too long and when it drags here, it slows down the story but not the momentum. The absolute bombastic editing (Bronstein and Safdie) is some of the best of the year; combined with the hypnotizing score (Daniel Lopatin) and dreamy cinematography (Darius Khondji), you feel like you’re levitating throughout the entire runtime. Lopatin is a Safdie staple by now and his score in Marty Supreme is one of their best collaborations; it’s intricate and celestial; simply career best work. Khondji is a legend for me but this ethereal 35mm both takes you back to the 1950’s but helps center the story of Marty within the chaos. It feels like the dream he’s chasing despite how the energy around him is completely tumultuous. Of course, legendary production designer Jack Fisk delivers beautiful work, as each set feels lived in and so detailed. From the apartment Marty occasionally lives in with his mother feeling lifted from a complex with such familiar details to the luxury hotel filled with the movie star, millionaire pen empire approved touches or my favorite set with the infamous bathtub. Fisk’s delicate, detailed hand transports the audience in such a special way. Costume designer Miyako Bellizzi has such a beautiful touch at being so subtle but so incredibly detailed and this is some of the best costume design work of the year. Every single design Marty wears is not only tailored to fit the era so beautifully (those suits!) but to fit the place in Marty’s arc. When he has his suit to impress, you can feel he put all his money into it and the thought of who he was trying to impress. His all-pink set feels it’s suffocating him despite being so beautiful to look at. Her work is always so airy and fluid (Bonjour Tristesse and Scenes from a Marriage) or perfect modern period looks (Uncut Gems and Good Time) but she’s always able to so brilliantly able to tie all that into the arc of each character with such a unique flair, which working time and time again with Bronstein and Safdie you can see they all have the exact same creative language. 

Dreams are such a solitary, lonely experience. Not only are they hard to verbalize their meaning and importance with everyone around you but dreams can blind you to who or what is important within your real, existing life. The tagline ‘Dream Big’ for Marty Supreme before seeing the film seems to apply to the hustle, the grind of Marty Mauser becoming the greatest ping pong player in the world. Marty Supreme is filled to the brim with the explosive desperation that follows this chase to the be the greatest but that’s not even what the film is about at its core. Dreams are necessary in life to push yourself to the next level and yearning for something better can only push you to go after what will better yourself. Marty Supreme encapsulates that feeling and the ending breaks down that rush of emotion when you realize your dreams may have blinded you this whole time to what truly matters, what actually was your unrealized dream but at what cost. The conversation of starting a family versus chasing your personal dreams and goals while you’re still young is an important, weighty conversation. 

Marty Supreme is set in the 1950’s, when the mainstays of American society for young men were get a stable job, a housewife, and start a family. There’s something about how life is all about timing and your dreams become a sort of heist on fate. When is it the right time, the acceptable time to chase what you dream for yourself? However, the ideas of putting aside personal dreams in order to achieve having a family are still such a crucial discussion and weight on so many people.

It’s actually easy to pair this film back to Charli xcx’s ‘I think about it all the time,’ as when you’re chasing your goals, but you want to start a family, what is more important? Is it selfish to want to put your personal dreams first, whether it be for Miss xcx a world tour or for Marty Mauser becoming the best table tennis player in the world? ‘Would it make me miss all my freedom?’ You can be so dialed in on what you want, the desperation to be the best, but is it truly a dream or is it just ambition driving a goal? The weight of this concept of dream versus goal all comes down on Marty in the final moments and I do personally think it is up for debate what he’s feeling in that moment. Chalamet is transcendent all throughout the film, but the last ten minutes are some of the finest moments of his impressive career. Is he relieved to circle back to the concept of a family being what actually matters? ‘Would it give my life a new purpose?’ Is his unrealized dream of being the best disappearing before his eyes? Is it both? Or is Marty simply seeking solace in the idea of family because his dream burst before his eyes? There’s a different kind of desperation in his eyes and it turns into acceptance and love yet mixed with a confusion. It is never simply acceptable to say ‘what about me and my dreams’ when family is on the table. Your life is never about you again but when you can dream big, can you have it all?

Grade: A

Oscar Prospects:
Likely: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Actor (Timothée Chalamet), Best Supporting Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design
Should be Considered: Best Supporting Actress (Odessa A’zion), Best Supporting Actor (Kevin O’Leary), Best Cinematography

Release Date: December 25, 2025
Where to Watch: In Theaters