When he’s not busy fighting sandworms in “Dune,” Timothée Chalamet sets himself up for critical recognition in other roles.
Chalamet’s recent role as Marty Mauser in “Marty Supreme” may be his best performance yet. The movie is loosely based on the life of Marty Reisman, a former USA Table Tennis Champion in 1958 and 1960, who is known for his glamorous style of play. In the film, Chalamet’s performance catapults him into “the greatness” the actor has been quoted as pursuing. He treats acting as a sport, operating as an athlete seeking to better himself every time. “Marty Supreme” may be the real start to witnessing his rise to immortalize his name amongst the new generation of actors.
Mauser is relentlessly driven, arrogant beyond belief and conniving, but he has the talent to back it all up. He is a streetwise ping-pong player who makes it to the 1952 World Finals in London, but loses to the rising Japanese star Koto Endo, played by Koto Kawaguchi, in a theatrical final. Catching the eye of former actress Kay Stone, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, Mauser lures her into an affair while also getting closer to her husband, Milton Rockwell, played by Kevin O’Leary, who owns the massive Rockwell Ink corp.
After Mauser’s loss in London, Rockwell presents him with a well-paid opportunity to rematch against Endo in Tokyo. It’s promoted as a redemption match for Mauser, capitalizing on the still-tense post-war relations between the U.S. and Japan, but it’s really an ad for Rockwell Ink. To further help promote the corporation and the stipulation to personally fly Mauser to the finals, Rockwell tells him he has to throw the match for the Japanese audience.
Mauser is not one to root for as he relentlessly exploits his uncle, best friend, lover and mother. Because of his speed and fast talking, it’s impossible to look away from his chaotic approach to life. Chalamet plays Mauser with precision and hunger only matched by O’Leary’s Rockwell, who is equally voracious in getting ahead. The “Shark Tank” personality makes his Hollywood debut in “Marty Supreme” and impresses on all accounts. When Mauser and Rockwell are paired on screen, the tension between the two is only surpassed by the intense scenes of the ping-pong matches, coming down to razor-thin margins of victory.
The matches are wonderfully shot and paired with an inspiring synth score that underlines the energy and emotion of the sport. Unhappy with the prospect of throwing a match publicly before the real tournament, Mauser engineers other ways to collect the funds to get himself on a flight to Tokyo in time to compete. Each situation has a compounded domino effect of failures that only someone as determined as Mauser would tackle head-on. The runtime sits at 150 minutes, but the breakneck pacing of the film keeps it from ever going stale, weaving exciting sequences between high-stakes games of swinging paddles.
Chalamet is also surrounded by several other fantastic talents. Odessa A’Zion is Rachel, Mauser’s childhood best friend, who assists in some of his wild attempts to raise funds for Tokyo. Tyler Okonma, also known as Tyler, The Creator, is Wally, a cabdriver who also runs hustling scams with Mauser on the outskirts of New York City. Wally and Rachel feed into Mauser’s delusions and often help him push even further with some of the dirty work he begins to employ. With his charm, even Stone begins to get wrapped up in his holy mess.
“Marty Supreme” is Chalamet’s best work yet, working with a strong script, fantastic direction from Josh Safdie and an incredibly flawed but engaging character in Mauser. Although the character himself is not noble, his efforts are exhilarating to observe. Mauser’s plots are sloppy, but he plays his ruses as if they were another opponent of ping pong, instilled with a cockiness that everything will work out for him. Last year had several electric performances, but this late entry from Chalamet will undoubtedly gain some motion in awards nominations.
Marvin Goines is a film/TV critic who has been writing reviews on various types of multimedia since 2021. His work can be found on websites such as ‘The Cosmic Circus’ and ‘Movies We Texted About.’
