Is Marty supreme?

Is Marty really supreme? makes a reasonable question to ask about Timothée Chalamet’s new movie. Well, Marty thinks so, which serves as both his ingratiating and irritating qualities.  Presenting a character reminiscent of Paul Newman’s famous pool hustler, the movie Marty Supreme plays with table tennis and requires Chalamet to push through a variety of hurdles as he displays unrelenting energy, excessive confidence, and that rare, elusive personal magnetism that movie screens love. Writing with Ronald Bronstein, director Josh Safdie explores the mean street of a Martin Scorsese film as Marty works his way thr

ough New York’s lower east side to reach international table tennis championship rallies in Tokyo. Taking no heed about who he steps on along the way, Marty also ignores how few people take ping pong as seriously as he does, especially during the story’s 1950s setting. While ping pong might earn a snicker or two, director Safdie finds visual excitement in matches, with his star bouncing and taking aim like a professional player. Table tennis, it turns out, provides enough movement and suspense to qualify as a sports movie subject. In between rallying balls comes personal entanglements, including one that offers a strong turn from Gwyneth Paltrow as a movie star seeking respect on Broadway. Marty also finds himself entangled with a pregnancy whose resolution seems at odds with his basic personality. Still, Marty Supreme succeeds with its ultimate focus on a character and his milieu, a hard scrabble world that requires chutzpah and charisma. Chalamet delivers both.