Marty Supreme

"I have a purpose. You don't."I went into Marty Supreme with tremendously high expectations—considering Chalamet's continuous marketing stunts and unfaltering belief that this performance is his best—and they most certainly were met. For a solid twenty minutes, maybe, I thought I'd been conned into watching a legitimate sports movie. The moment Mauser returned home from his loss with Endo, that fear was shattered. I really don't know what to say; this film was just genuinely fantastic. Timothée Chalamet's performance as Marty Mauser, to nobody's surprise, was phenomenal: he was awfully unlikable, and that was clearly the point. As much as I hated Mauser for the entirety of the film's duration, he was still funny; I wanted to see him win. And really, I don't think any deeper analysis of Mauser's character is required. He's an asshole—that's his schtick. He wants to be the best, and he's willing to do anything to get there, even if that means hurting everybody around him. I was shocked at how little the narrative of the film actually had to do with its subject matter: ping-pong. The sheer volume of, just, things that occur in this film is mind-boggling. It's far more Catch Me If You Can than it is The Mighty Ducks (the only other sports movie I've ever seen). Possibly my favorite part of the film was when Mauser and Wally scammed those guys at the bowling alley out of hundreds of dollars. I guess that part was still ping-pong adjacent, but it felt more like a heist.  The cinematography and score of the film were just—mwah, chefs kiss. Every scene was beautiful to look at, and the use of a mainly 80s-inspired soundtrack in a film set in the 50s is a unique choice that absolutely pays off. In short, Marty Supreme is a film that dreams big. Despite how unlikable its main character is, you will not be disappointed to see him succeed at his goal, then see him move on to the next.