Marty Supreme (2025)
We had to rush to the multiplex to catch this film, as it was due for immediate eviction to make room for such upcoming releases as the new SpongeBob movie and a jump scare junker about a killer chimp.
And we're so glad we did, so as not to miss director/co-writer Josh Safdie's chaotic, mile-a-minute epic...a sprawling, rollicking saga about a young motormouthed bullshitter with unshakable belief in his skills to achieve his dream......and who'll let nothing and no one thwart him in his pursuit of it.
Minus unforseen upsets, you can expect Timothee Chalamet to sweep up every Best Actor award in all the usual ceremonies during the next few months. On screen for virtually the entirety of 'Marty Supreme's breathless 150 minutes, Chalamet's Marty Mauser, early 1950's hustling striver and ping pong virtuoso, is a bravura portrait of manic American ambition.
Marty, world class liar, lover and tireless self-promoter, takes a wild, rollercoaster ride in his unceasing quest for fortune and glory as table tennis champion of the world. His journey takes him out of his raucous New York tenement neighborhood through London, Tokyo and finally back to a conclusion you may or may not believe, given Marty's unrepentant, throw-'em-under-the-bus character arc.
Along the way, he encounters a constant stream of would-be friends, enemies and no end of assorted oddballs for him to use and abuse on his turbulent path to greatness......(much like a Dickens novel on steroids).
The casting of all these people left in Marty's wake is both stunning and hilarious.......the film's populated with some of the most unlikely people you'd ever expect to see together in one film, including Fran Drescher (as Marty's hypochondriac, disapproving mom), cult NYC grindhouse auteur Abel Ferrara, Kevin O' Leary (the 'Shark Tank' shark, as Marty's sponsor and hateful nemesis).
And very special mention should be made about Odessa A'zion as Marty's long suffering lifelong girlfriend, impregnated by him while she's married to someone else, and Gwyneth Paltrow as an emotionally wounded, washed up former movie star whom Marty manages to fast talk into a red hot love-hate affair.
As the film's blisteringly quick 2 and a half hours fly by, you'll have to decide for yourselves whether Marty's antics leave you either appalled or amused....or more likely, both reactions simultaneously.
Of all the swing-for-the-fences awards-worthy films we've encountered last year, 'Marty Supreme' stands out......well, supremely. BQ says try to catch it wherever and whenever you can....
4 stars (****).
No comments:
Post a Comment