Marty Supreme is the sixth and newest film from director Josh Safdie but only his second solo feature, as he has frequently collaborated with his brother Benny on films such as Uncut Gems. Marty Mauser is loosely based on Marty Reisman, a table tennis player from the 1950s who brought the popularity and flair of the sport to American crowds.
When you first see Marty Mauser, the main character of Marty Supreme, portrayed by Timothée Chalamet, he comes off as a mild-mannered shoe salesman working at his uncle’s shoe store. His uncle describes him as “able to sell shoes to an amputee.” Half an hour later, you are watching him embark on a chaotic odyssey around New York City in pursuit of greatness and table tennis.
Aside from Chalamet, the film stars veteran actress Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, and making his debut in a feature film, Grammy Award-winning rapper Tyler the Creator. The film also casts many people from a variety of fields of work and backgrounds, such as Philippe Petit, the man who tightroped between the Twin Towers in 1974, as a commentator, and former basketball players Kemba Walker, Tracy McGrady, and George Gervin, as well as many others, from supermarket billionaires to magicians, journalists, fashion designers, and real-life table tennis pros; no one seems to be left out.
Josh Safdie has done this in the past, for example in the previously mentioned Uncut Gems, in which former NBA player Kevin Garnett played himself alongside the Weeknd.
The film has already had a good run at awards shows, especially thanks to Timothée Chalamet, who has already won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards for best Actor, as well as being nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Chalamet set the record for the youngest person to be nominated for that award three times.
Additionally adding to the hype of the film, Marty Supreme had a monumental marketing campaign. It all started with a video that was posted on the A24, the production company’s Youtube channel. It consisted of a Zoom marketing meeting with Chalamet and other marketing executives,with Chalamet ranting about having orange blimps with ads for the film, and presenting a specific orange that he had a designer create.
It all seemed like a joke.
It wasn’t.
Videos began to be posted on various social media platforms like TikTok, and Instagram of orange blimps with “Marty Supreme” on their sides. Additionally there were pop up stores with merchandise for the film, such as jackets which were seen being worn by various celebrities from Tom Brady to Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Chalamet made appearances surrounded by bodyguards wearing orange ping-pong ball-esque helmets. Chalamet also stood on top of The Sphere in Las Vegas as it played an ad for the film.
Reacting to the hype, Ryan Lassman (‘27) stated, “I am not that interested in fashion, but I thought Chalamet’s promotion was really effective on social media. The Marty Supreme Jacket that he and other famous celebrities wore also drew my attention to the film.”
Noah Pianko (‘28) saw the film and expressed his enjoyment of it saying, “I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.” He was also refreshed by seeing familiar faces that aren’t usually in movies, but the one aspect that he disliked was how unlikable Marty himself was. Additionally Pianko watched all of the Zoom marketing videos, as well as the various other ones they posted, and stated, “I definitely wouldn’t have seen the movie without the marketing.”
MHS video teacher Elena Elmoznino praised the technical elements, such as the carefully designed lighting that was true to the time period of the 1950s within the apartments, and ping-pong halls in the film. She also noted the anachronistic music tracks being used, mostly from the 80’s. The one part she disliked was the same as Pianko: the unlikeability of Marty, and how terrible he was to the people supporting him; however she stated that “Oddly enough, I still found myself rooting for him in the end, because we all love an underdog story.”
