Marty Supreme

Continuing our Christmas Day tradition, Eric, Tom, Jack, Sharon and I saw Marty Supreme at at the Cinemark Century Greenback Lane. We are on our annual journey to see all of the films that might be nominated for an Oscar. As of today, GoldDerby currently has Marty Supreme with the third best odds to win the Best Picture Oscar.

Marty Supreme is a sports comedy-drama film produced and directed by Josh Safdie. He co-wrote the script with Ronald Bronstein. The film is loosely inspired by the life and career of American table tennis player Marty Reisman.

Timothée Chalamet stars and was the co-producer. The film also features Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A'zion, Kevin O'Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, and Fran Drescher in supporting roles.

Set in 1950s New York, the film follows Marty Mauser, a hyper-confident shoe salesman and motor-mouthed hustler who is obsessed with becoming the world's greatest table tennis champion. To escape his provincial Lower East Side life, Marty schemes and grifts his way into international competitions, eventually entangling himself with a wealthy socialite and an eccentric ink tycoon who bankrolls his journey to Japan. As his ego and relentless ambition push him toward a climactic world championship match, Marty must navigate the chaotic fallout of his own impulsive choices and the dark side of his pursuit of fame.

At dinner, Jack said "I wanted to like the movie more." He also said that he needed to see it again. Tom said that "it was tedious" in the middle. We eventually all agreed to give the movie a "B". Given some of the hype that Jack and I saw, we were expecting a little more. The movie is very frenetic.

On the way to lunch with my sisters, Jack, Sharon and I listened to the Big Picture podcast "‘Marty Supreme’ Is the Moment, With Josh Safdie!". After listening to the podcast, we increased our grade for the movie to a "B+". The podcast provides some insights into some of the nuances that I missed when we saw it...