Marty Supreme Pain in the Ass

 

Last night, only 24 hours after viewing Song Sung Blue, I returned to the Kendall Square Cinema to take in a screening of Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet.

I attended the film entirely on the basis of Chalamet's presence in it on what turned out to be his 30th birthday. At this time a year ago, I saw Chalamet in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and was so mesmerized by Chalamet's performance that it left me wanting more. So, I saw it again 72 hours later.

I am sorry to say that Marty Supreme did not leave me wanting more nor do I plan to see it again in 72 hours from now. In fact, I could go another 72 years without seeing it again.

Marty Supreme is loosely based on the life of the late table tennis champion Marty Reisman. However, Chalamet portrays Marty Mauser and any resemblance to Reisman is purely coincidental. Which is a shame because I think it is fascinating that Reisman won a table tennis tournament in 1997 when he was 67 and would have been worthy of a film on its own. 

Unfortunately, Josh Safdie's directorial style and the script which he co-wrote with Ronald Bronstein, takes a kitchen sink approach to storytelling. In the case of Marty Supreme, it is a bathtub. Frankly, the story reminded me a great deal of last year's Best Picture winner Anora which when I viewed it could not wait for it to end. Both movies are little more than bombardment in search of a story that it never finds. But in our current day and age this passes for being clever and insightful. The only thing supreme about Marty Supreme is that it is a supreme pain in the ass.

It is a shame because the film wastes some good performances by Chalamet, Odessa A'zion and Fran Drescher in the first time I've ever seen her without makeup. Chalamet also has some chemistry with Gwyneth Paltrow in a May-December romance. I must admit I did not recognize Penn Jillette without glasses and was delighted to see a cameo role from Ted Williams, a homeless man who found a niche as an announcer and voiceover artist. Another bit of unconventional casting was that businessman, reality TV host and formerly Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Kevin O'Leary. However, O'Leary looked like Harry Truman's evil twin brother. Speaking of Truman, although Marty Supreme is set in the early 1950's, much of the soundtrack is from the 1980's which makes the film even more disjointed.

Alas, I suspect that Marty Supreme will likely rack up Oscar nominations and possibly earn Chalamet his elusive first Best Actor Academy Award. It's not that Chalamet isn't worthy of such a triumph. I just wish he would earn the honor for a different role with a more compelling performance.