My quick rating - 7.1/10. Marty Supreme is another one of this year’s Best Picture nominees that I felt obligated to check out, if only to see what all the awards-season noise was about. Set in 1952, the film follows 23-year-old New Yorker Marty Mauser, played by Timothée Chalamet, a man who puts 110% into everything he does. Unfortunately for everyone around him, that energy is directed solely at his own selfish ambitions. Marty is convinced he could be the best table tennis player in the world, and he is dead set on proving it at the world championships in Japan, even though he has no money, no official support, and the personality of a cheese grater.
Marty works in his uncle’s shoe store while dreaming of ping pong glory, all while claiming he needs success to support his overbearing mother (played by Fran Drescher), who is currently supported by the very relatives Marty regularly inconveniences. Along the way, he manipulates just about everyone in his orbit, including his married childhood friend Rachel (Odessa A’zion), with whom he’s carrying on an affair without a second thought for the consequences. Marty genuinely believes that an American champion would elevate the sport’s profile, but the film makes it clear that his real motivation is ego first, everything else second.
To fund his unlikely journey, Marty tries to ingratiate himself with retired movie star Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her wealthy businessman husband, Milton Rockwell (Kevin O'Leary). Calling the scene where Marty hooks up with Kay "fiction" is a huge understatement. It would never happen. Marty’s schemes and hustles often play out over ping pong tables rather than pool tables, which makes for some entertaining and unusual sequences. It was especially satisfying to see how his first meeting with Endo (Koto Kawaguchi) ultimately plays out.
The film is very well shot and convincingly acted across the board. The 1950s set design feels authentic and lived-in, helping sell the period setting without drawing unnecessary attention to itself. The cinematography and overall production quality are undeniably strong, and Chalamet delivers a performance that proves just how convincing he can be as a complete jerk, since he doesn’t seem like one in real life, that’s actually a pretty impressive feat. The hustle sequences around the ping pong table are genuinely fun to watch and give the movie some personality.
Where Marty Supreme stumbles is in its script and flow. It’s just that the story feels so disjointed, and Marty’s character development is completely lacking by the end of it. He seems to learn nothing from his experiences and faces virtually no consequences for his actions. It’s hard to get behind him when he’s been so obnoxious throughout the entire thing that I found myself wanting him to fail at pretty much everything he tries.
The music choices also feel strangely out of place for a 1950s setting, even if any movie that sneaks in a track by Public Image Ltd. earns a few bonus points from me.
Ultimately, Marty Supreme is a technically impressive but emotionally unfulfilling film. It’s a well-made movie with a strong central performance, but it’s one that never provides you with any reason to ever care about its protagonist. Not my choice for Best Picture, no matter how hard the marketing tries to persuade me otherwise.
No comments:
Post a Comment