When Timothée Chalamet visited the Belcourt last December to promote his Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, his star power felt palpable. He genuinely has it, whatever it is. And he’s wielded that power by working with interesting directors and taking on challenging roles.
Marty Supreme is the first offering from director Josh Safdie following his (hopefully temporary?) professional split from his brother and fellow indie provocateur Benny Safdie. And here Chalamet gives his best, most assured and most multifaceted performance yet.
Marty Supreme is an anxiety-inducing, comedic-thriller character study chronicling American table tennis star Marty Mauser, played by Chalamet. (Don’t call it ping-pong!) Mauser is loosely based on flamboyant midcentury New York table tennis star Marty Reisman. Like Reisman, Mauser is America’s only hope for breaking through the juggernauts of Asia and Europe in international table tennis competitions, and he’s willing to do anything to reach the mountaintop.
This film makes it abundantly clear which Safdie brother has the juice. As much as I respected the subversive approach and top-notch performances of the Benny-directed, Rock-starring MMA biopic The Smashing Machine earlier this year, Benny isn’t working from the same bag of tricks Josh displays in Supreme. To be fair to Benny, one of the most exhilarating aspects of a typical Safdie movie is the ever-tightening vice grip of a plot, and here Josh benefits from having the duo’s usual co-writer Ronald Bronstein at his side.
Benny Safdie's biopic on MMA pioneer Mark Kerr opens Friday at Regal and AMC locations
Speaking of Bronstein — who has a voice-only role in the film — the cast is truly a work of art with its array of non-professional actors, a Safdie specialty. Along for the ride in Supreme are Shark Tank judge Kevin O’Leary, musician Tyler the Creator, legendary genre filmmaker Abel Ferrara, high-wire artist Philippe Petit, NBA Hall of Famer George Gervin, ornery playwright/screenwriter David Mamet, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and magician Penn Jillette. It’s a smorgasbord of, “Wait, they’re in this?”
And the inspired casting doesn’t stop with nontraditional actors. Gwyneth Paltrow gives her first significant performance in nearly 15 years (shoutout to the terrifying Steven Soderbergh medical thriller Contagion) as washed-up movie star turned socialite Kay Stone, and Fran Drescher steps down from the SAG soapbox to play Marty’s beleaguered mother Rebecca. But it’s Odessa A’zion who stands out from the supporting pack as Marty’s (married) romantic partner-in-crime Rachel Mizler. I won’t spoil the fun, but I will say she’s every bit Marty’s scheming equal.
As the storytelling vice grip continues to tighten, the hurdles Marty has to navigate in his quest for greatness grow increasingly hilarious. But even if the table tennis prodigy finds himself experiencing an extraordinary stretch of bad luck, most of the events can be tied back directly to Marty’s own negligence. It’s not stingy businessmen or stuffy execs or questioning family members or Japanese table tennis champions who are preventing Marty from reaching the promised land — his compulsive, short-sighted decision-making does the most damage.
This sort of talented, driven, charming-but-obnoxious, his-own-worst-enemy lead character is fertile ground for movie stars, and Chalamet knocks the role out of the park. As a proven Ball Knower, he thrives in the role of egomaniacal athlete. And his acting chops are perfectly suited for the mile-a-minute Safdie approach to dialogue and storytelling. The Lead Actor field is likely to be stacked this year, but this is the type of role that could very well lead to Oscar-night glory for Hollywood’s current Lisan al Gaib. More importantly, it anchors one of the year’s best films.
