Movie Monday - Marty Supreme

Luke Loew
7 days ago
7 min read

It's Marty Monday! On New Years Day, I finally got out to see a movie I've been beyond excited to see for the last 2+ months. The Safdie brothers, Josh and Benny, have been a directing team for the past several years -- creating great films like Uncut Gems and Good Time. They split off to work on Individual projects in 2025 -- Benny making The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne Johnson, and Josh making Marty Supreme -- produced and distributed by A24 Studious, starring White Boy of the Millennium Timothee Chalamet.

The buzz surrounding this movie following it's initial secret-premiere back in September/October has been palpable -- acclaiming it one of the best movies of 2025 and one of the best performances of the year from Timmy Chalamet. And when it comes to a sports movie, directed by a Safdie brother, starring my favorite young actor in Hollywood --I had to see this one ASAP.

Per usual when it comes to Movie Monday reviews on movies that have just recently come out -- the review here will be NON-SPOILER. Think of it as a breakdown of the cast, general thoughts on the film, and the factors that made it work/not work. And of course, whether I recommend it.

Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for my official Top 10 Movies of 2025. I've been on a tear of movies the past couple weeks checking things off my list -- but still have a couple more to check off like F1, Thunderbolts*, and hopefully, the new Avatar.

Lastly, for those of you that have seen Marty Supreme -- let me know what you thought in the comments of this blog or on the Instagram post! Eventually we'll dive into some spoilers -- but want to give the rest of the world more time to see it.

Marty Supreme -- Spoiler-free Review

Premise

In the 1950s, young Marty Mauser pursues his dream of becoming a champion table-tennis player.

*** Yes, that is the full premise per Google. And that's the best, most simple way to describe the film. ***

Cast

Character Name -- Actor -- (Prominent Movies/TV Shows on the actor's resume)

Marty Mauser -- Timothee Chalamet -- (Dune franchise, Call Me By Your Name, Wonka, A Complete Unknown, Little Women, Lady Bird, Don't Look Up, The King)
Rachel Mizler -- Odessa A'zion -- (I Love LA, Ghosts, Am I OK?, Until Dawn)
Kay Stone -- Gwyneth Paltrow -- (Iron Man franchise, Se7en, Shallow Hal, Shakespeare in Love, The Talented Mr. Ripley)
Milton Rockwell -- Kevin O'Leary -- (Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank)
Wally -- Tyler, The Creator (Okonma) -- (Loiter Squad, Jackass franchise, Big Mouth, accomplished Rapper)
Rebecca Mauser -- Fran Drescher -- (The Nanny, This is Spinal Tap, Saturday Night Fever)
Ezra Mishkin -- Abel Ferrara -- (Kings of New York, Bad Lieutenant, Ms. 45)

The story of the cast begins and ends with Timothee Chalamet. He gives the best performance in a movie of 2025 -- best of his career -- and one of the best of the decade in my opinion. He becomes the character fully -- a fast-talking, ambitious, overly confident-nearing arrogant, charismatic, hate-able guy that I couldn't help rooting for. A god-tier performance from Hollywood's #1 rising star.

My #2 takeaway was how unexpectedly good Kevin O'Leary was. He's Mr. Wonderful from Shark Tank -- he's not an actor, he's a businessman. But here he is going toe-to-toe with Timmy Chalamet. Safdie uses O'Leary's reputation/persona in the real world in a genius way with this casting, and somehow this Shark elevates this movie to higher levels.

#3 Takeaway -- I had never seen Odessa A'zion in a movie -- and she was really great, in a really difficult role to pull off. I also thought this was a revival performance from Paltrow, who hadn't been in a big non-Marvel movie in many years, and her character's arc reflects her real life journey in many ways (another piece of genius casting from Josh Safdie).

Final takeaways -- Tyler the Creator was a terrific addition. Him, Kevin O'Leary, and the people below are such interesting casting choices -- the Safdies are truly masters at casting randos that just work perfectly. Tyler's such a fun presence in this film. Fran Drescher was good -- definitely not a standout for me, but not a standout role on the page for her. Abel Ferrara had a very fun side role as well.

I also want to point out some of the other fun castings/cameos Josh Safdie pulled off with this film besides Mr. Wonderful and Tyler the Creator. George Gervin plays a ping pong club owner, and Tracy McGrady and Kemba Walker both play Harlem Globetrotters. Penn Jillette, of Penn & Teller fame (the magician duo) plays an important role. Fred Hechinger of The White Lotus S1 and Gladiator II plays a tiny role, but is perfectly cast. And Luke Manley -- better known as Fatrick Ewing/Lukey Lunchbox if you watched Barstool Yak Idol -- has a pivotal role as Marty's friend Dion. Easily my favorite "what the fuck" casting, and he's actually good!

Why It Works

Non-Stop Thrill-Ride

If you've seen Uncut Gems, that is a film that has a lot in common with Marty Supreme in a sense of pacing and energy. There's a manic energy throughout -- both through the tempo that the movie moves at, the pace of the New York Dialogue, and in the performances of the actors -- most notably Chalamet at the center of it. There are several moments off the top of my head where I was sitting on the edge of my seat, or made my jaw drop, or had me anxiously awaiting the conclusion of the scene.

But the difference between the two movies for me is that I found Marty Supreme a much more enjoyable thrill-ride. And it's not due to a lack of stakes or stress that the film makes you feel, I think it's just due to the nature of the events taking place being more entertaining. The sports aspect plays into this as well -- anytime there was a sequence where you're watching Marty playing a table-tennis match, I was locked the fuck in.

The movie just moves effortlessly between scenes as well -- one second you're in this location talking about X, and a split second later you've moved to the next location talking about Y. It moves quickly, but always sequential -- and there's no shortage of major and memorable moments that don't necessarily feel rushed. It's a 2 1/2 hour movie, but no scenes feel unnecessary, which makes it go by quicker.

Hits All the Emotions

If you've read any of my movie blogs in the past, you know something that's important to me, and what separates a good movie from a great movie -- is being able to hit on multiple emotional notes. A movie that makes me laugh, tear up, feel anxious, get angry, get uncomfortable -- those are things that I consider a huge positive in a movie. Even if some of those feelings are negative -- it's a testament to the movie being able to reel you in and care about the actions of the characters.

Marty Supreme 100% hits on this -- there are so many moments when I was laughing out loud in my theater chair at the whacky events unfolding. But there are also many moments that shocked me and averted expectations -- or where the tension built up to such a degree that I was anxious about what would happen (my blood pressure from my Apple Watch beeped me at one point). And by the end, both Emily and I had both shed a few tears.

As I've said before, I go to a movie in theater with the hope that it makes me feel something -- and Marty Supreme absolutely accomplishes that.

Will be Rewatchable for Years to Come

The last reason I think I loved this movie so much is the fact that, as I walked out of the theater, I was already thinking about how bad I wanted to rewatch it. And re-watchability has a lot of factors, but I truly think this is a movie that 25+ years from now will still be apart of the cinema discourse.

One factor is, as I've said before -- there is SO MUCH that happens over the 150 or so minutes of this film. It's a story that has so many minor plots and events that it can be almost overwhelming on a first viewing. So I think a second viewing would be even more enjoyable and would help you catch things you missed the first time around -- and that's the sentiment I've heard from many of the people whose movie opinions I trust online.

Another factor is, despite this being set in the 1950's -- it feels like a timeless story. What I mean by that is our main character Marty's journey and struggle has an eternal or timeless essence about it. That's not to say his actions or the events of his life are super relatable -- I mean he's a table tennis player for Christ's sake -- but his aspirations and unyielding-drive to achieve his dreams is.

Conclusion

This is one of the best movies of the year with THE best acting performance of the year. The side characters are perfect -- from established actors to the odd-ball choices Safdie found to populate this story -- and they all gravitate around a planetary performance from Timmy as Marty. It's the final boss of the Safdie thriller, taking what he learned from Good Time and Uncut Gems and improving upon them in Marty Supreme -- making it more fun, more ambitious, and more balanced. Can't wait to rewatch this one less than 24 hours after seeing it the first time.