"Marty Supreme" (2025) Timothe Chalamet, Directed by Josh Safdie + "Carol" (2015)

[GreatGazoo]

Watched as much of 'Marty Supreme' as I could take. It is worse than the premise. Worse than 'Uncut Gems', Safdie's prior film. Poorly shot. Painfully immature.

It was encouraged by the reviews despite thinking that 'Uncut Gems' was similarly hyped. And it is set in the NYC of the late 1940s which would have been a big plus, enough to sit through, but most of what I saw was a dark shoe shop and ping pong tables in a big dark room. I thought maybe with 7 more years of adulthood since 'Uncut Gems' Josh Safdie would grow up a little but this movie is like something a high school boy would write.

About 15 minutes in the ping pong guy has sex with 53YO Gwyneth Paltrow, Spends money has doesn't have and seduces her right under her husband's nose. It makes no sense at all except maybe to show us the character is a dare devil?

20 minutes in, Kevin "Shark Tank" O'Leary shows up as business man who wants to invest in ping pong. In any other film his presence, let alone his performance, would have been a joke. You have to wonder what the producers and even Chalamet were thinking by including non-actors in significant roles (?)

The premise, guy wants ping pong to become a serious sport, was like an SNL sketch, a parody of sports movies. Everything has been done, even Jamaican bobsledders, so...ping pong. But it wasn't funny. Heavy handed camera work cuts from wide shots to extreme close ups, like a bad kung fu movie.

Juvenile. Stereotypes galore. Stupid gun play. Absurd plot elements. Gratuitous sex scenes. I was embarrassed to be in the audience after 25 minutes.

- - - - -

Went upstairs and saw the last half of 'Carol', the 2015 cult film, with Cate Blanchett. Also, coincidentally, set in the NYC of the early 1950s but gorgeous interiors and car scenes and wardrobe and palette and shot on 16mm film to get the period look. It's kind of Wong Kar-wai "In the Mood for Love". Was in development from 1997 to 2015 (!) Very well done.

[NoRethugFriends]

1. What?

Uncut gems was great.
MartySupreme was okay not great, but certainly not as bad as stated above.

[GreatGazoo]

2. Now that I have seen part of it I will be curious to read what

others liked about it.

I wanted to like both films. I worked near 47th Street and knew people in that business so Uncut Gems was okay, kind of disappointing. I was hoping that 'Marty Supreme' would be better than that. For me, for the reasons stated above, it was not. Saw many great films this year and have gotten spoiled by the quality of acting and story telling in them: The Mastermind, A Complete Unknown, Sentimental Value, many others.

If it was a comedy then Taco Bell could have a tie-in right now: a tostada that has a crispy tortilla shaped like a paddle, a layer of beef, layer of cheese and a big round dollop of sour cream shaped like a ping pong ball. The Marty Supreme.

[Xavier Breath]

3. Since you mentioned Carol, some may not be aware a good bit of it was filmed on location in Cincinnati.

Even in 2014 it apparently still had the look of 1950s NYC.

[Upthevibe]

4. GreatGazoo...........

A friend and I saw it on Sunday....

TERRIBLE! For one thing, I felt like I'd been in the theatre for hours!

We figured we aren't the demographic (I'm in my late 60's and she's in her 70's). We couldn't believe the reviews were so good

[GreatGazoo]

5. Two and a half hours (for those who stayed) !

The reviews for 'Uncut Gems' were similarly unwarranted so I did not trust them this time. Was expecting the film to be about a "5" but watchable due to Chalamet and 1940/50s setting.

I agree that it may do better with younger viewers. Uncut Gems was a "bro" film but ping pong is maybe too wimpy for them so I will be curious to see how it does next week.