MARTY SUPREME.

“Marty Supreme” (2025, HBO Max) sports comedy-drama. Set in the 1950s, it stars Timothée Chalamet as table tennis player Marty Mauser (loosely based on Marty Reisman) and follows his quest to become world champion. 


       First, I must say, Timothee should have won the Best Actor award for this very entertaining movie. And it's all because of Mr Chalamet's high-energy hold (or grip) of the title character. Funny, infuriating, flirty, heart-warming, contradicting etcetera--all embodied and craftily channeled in one dramatic bombast yet never hysterical and confectionary. 

       Second, and this isn't really a superlative, the majority of the 2 and half hour movie is fiction, especially the action sequences and the sexual shenanigans with a Hollywood actress. The “trip to Japan” or competitions in Japan were also twisted, but the rivalry with a Japanese player was real. I guess that's an “accepted” mischief in cinema these days? Distort history and “calibrate” facts as artistic license. 

        Overall though, this movie scores high in all of its technical skills and aesthetic values, which is generally credited to director Josh Safdie. Extra credits to the editing (by Mr Safdie and co-writer Ronald Bronstein), and the performance of Odessa A'zion as Rachel Mizler, a married, childhood friend of Marty who is having an affair with him. The character is loosely based on Geri Falk, Reisman’s first wife.

        Expectedly, this showtime offering is a massive box-office winner. A box office profit of $191 million revenue for a budget of $70 million. 🎥💻📽

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