Congrats to Josh Safdie on being the Joel. Condolences to Benny for being the Ethan. Content warning: antisemitic slurs, racial slurs, violenceIt is the 1950s and Marty (Timothee Chalamet) is hustling as hard as he can to get the money to compete in international table tennis competitions while avoiding any and all responsibilities. Nothing matters except achieving his goal of being the top-ranked ping pong player in the world, not a hypochondriac mother (Fran Drescher), not an inconveniently pregnant girlfriend (Odessa A'zion), and especially not the various friends and acquaintances Marty cons or cajoles out of cash.
I had never seen any of the Safdie Brothers' previous works so the only thing I have to compare this to is The Smashing Machine, and you know, every other sports movie ever made.
I did find it interesting that both brothers chose a loose period piece biopic about a forerunner of a niche sport that is a victim of their own hubris. I think Marty Supreme is the more successful story, even if I disliked the movie, but it is still not great. It's overly long and haphazardly written. Y'all, it's not even a good ping pong movie. No idea why it's being so highly lauded. Personally, I am not a fan of unpleasant characters being unpleasant. I think there's enough of that in real life; I don't also need to see it in my escapism.
This had a cast filled with cameos, some more successful than others. Apparently, that is a hallmark of Safdie's work, but I wouldn't know. Everyone seemed very frenetic so it was hard for me to tell who was doing a good job with their parts. I would be okay if this lost every category. Right now, it's my second least favorite of all the Best Picture nominees.
It's currently still in theaters and just dropped on Amazon as Video On Demand. Don't pay money to see this.
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