“Marty Supreme, Christmas Day!” – by now, the whole world knows that phrase and its marketing genius. Marty Supreme is a flashy, fast paced drama movie unique to anything the film community has seen.
“Marty Supreme exceeded my expectations and was certainly my film of the year. I went into the theater thinking it was a simple film about table tennis, but left feeling inspired and impressed. I personally love the director’s casting choices, as much of the cast had very few acting credits prior to this film. I recommend this film to everyone, from ping pong players, to movie lovers, to just the average person on the street,” said senior Hudson Menzel.
The film follows Marty Mauser, played by Timothée Chalamet, a charming, Jewish shoe salesman in New York City in the 1950s. He is obsessed with table tennis, which is what he believes to be America’s future favorite sport. The plot follows Marty on absurd quests to achieve his dream of becoming the world’s best player, and the lengths he is willing to go to achieve his goal. Marty gets intertwined with underworld chaos, dangerous hustles to raise money for attending tournaments, and affairs, one of which is with celebrity actress Kay Stone, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. The picture is loosely based off of real life superstar table tennis player Marty Reisman. The performance which Chalamet gives in this movie astonishes fans, and he already has taken home the Best Actor Award from the Critics Choice Awards.
“I felt the movie was incredible, Timothée Chalamet does an amazing job acting, and you are locked into the movie the whole time,” said junior Noah Widolok.
Josh Safdie (the film’s director) and Chalamet went about advertising and promoting the movie in an “artistic” fashion. The 30 year old actor was the first person to stand on top of the Sphere, on which he shouted “Marty Supreme, Christmas Day.” The Sphere was projected as the movie’s signature orange ping pong ball. Safdie understood that Generation Z doesn’t discover films just through billboards and talk shows, but social media, scrolling, clicking and interacting. He utilized an odd, new type of advertising and the world loved it. The promotion began back in Oct., when Chalamet first posted himself being bombarded by orange balls and men wearing giant ping pong ball heads. Soon orange blimps with black lettering flew across the US to advertise. The film released limited edition Marty Supreme 90s inspired sports jackets, and had celebrities who “dreamt big,” including Steph Curry, Bill Nye, Ringo Starr, Misty Copeland, Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner, Michael Phelps and Frank Ocean, wear them. The jackets were available at pop ups in some cities for $250, and now resale for around $6,000. The last advertising tactic, and maybe the funniest, was a Marty Supreme remix song Chalamet released with British rapper EsDeeKid, whose true identity is unknown. The media has been circulating rumors of Chalamet being the mysterious face behind EsDeeKid, and he neither confirmed nor denied it in interviews, saying “I got no comment on that, all will be revealed in due time.”
Safdie’s decision to capture the movie on film stock, instead of digital, is one of the reasons why the picture is able to really evoke the “throwback” vibe it was looking for. The changing scenes and quick action throughout the movie captivated audiences across the globe, leaving to never expect what is coming next. Many believe that this style of fast paced movies is one which leaves many questions unanswered, and spaces for plot holes, but the beauty of Marty Supreme is the more you have to infer, the better the movie can become. The movie is not perfect, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s a stylistic risk, which benefitted the picture itself.
Marty Supreme is an experience like no other in the theater, and certainly is living up to the high praise and promotion it has gotten. Fans believe the film and Chalamet’s performance will achieve legendary status, and take the rising star’s career to the next level.
“I cannot exaggerate the feeling I had leaving the theater, the movie is a work of art that left me speechless after I left. If you haven’t seen it, please make sure you do,” said sophomore Jonah Rosenberg.