Marty Supreme

Directed by Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme follows Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Mauser as he attempts to overcome various personal and professional obstacles to become a world-champion table-tennis player. Filmmaker Safdie, armed with his and Ronald Bronstein’s screenplay, delivers an erratic yet rewarding endeavor that gets off to an impressively engrossing start, as Marty Supreme boasts a propulsive opening stretch that effectively establishes the central character and his 1950s-set environs – with the impact of this stretch heightened by Chalamet’s immersive, riveting performance and Safdie’s incredibly (and impressively) stylish approach to the material. It’s a little disappointing to note, then, that Marty Supreme‘s forward momentum is adversely affected by a hit-and-miss, episodic midsection, as Safdie’s decision to stress digressions and subplots of a decidedly less-than-enthralling nature (eg Marty’s ongoing efforts at retrieving a lost dog), in addition to diminishing the picture’s overall impact, does lend the proceedings a rough-cut feel (ie the 150 minute running time (!) is in dire need of streamlining, ultimately). Such concerns are rendered virtually moot by the almost unbearably exciting (and thoroughly satisfying) third act, however, with the end result an entertaining (and periodically spellbinding) drama that could (and should) have topped out at around two hours.

***1/2 out of ****