Uncut Gems may be the most hectic, viscerally discomforting, anxiety-inducing theater experience of my life. Adam Sandler’s Howard Ratner managed to make wrong decisions faster than I could realize there was even a bad decision to be made. In the process, he became one of the most captivating protagonists of 2010’s cinema. Uncut Gems is an absolute masterpiece, and I’m excited to report that Marty Supreme - which stars Timothée Chalamet and comes from Josh Safdie, one half of the Uncut Gems Safdie brothers directing duo - shares much of the same DNA of that film.

If you’re looking for the spiritual sequel, the Casino to Uncut Gem’s Goodfellas, you’ll probably find it in a ping pong savant played by Timothee Chalamet.

A Quick Overview of Marty Supreme’s Plot

The film follows Marty Mauser, a persuasive shoe salesman stuck working for his uncle who thinks table tennis could be his way out of Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Marty’s unassailable self-confidence will obviously be put to the test when it comes to ping pong. But the film’s true impact — its most memorable moments — come from testing Marty’s confidence away from the table, as he’s forced to scheme, hustle, and charm his way into competitions. A lot happens in between all the ping pong. But it happens fast. A lot of the time, it comes out of nowhere. And you don’t want to know about it going in. If you like movies like The Color of Money and Catch Me if You Can, good. Josh Safdie, who in addition to directing, co-wrote with Ronald Bronstein, pulls familiar elements from those films as well as Uncut Gems to paint a portrait of ambition under pressure that is genuinely fun to watch, but doesn’t lose that cinematic brand of stress the filmmaker has become known for.

Marty Supreme is a film that’s doing great work on all fronts, but it starts with Timothée Chalamet, who is a clear contender for all of this year’s best actor awards.

Timothée Chalamet Could Win Best Actor

Chalamet is completely mesmerizing as Marty Mauser. The character’s tendency to use his razor-sharp wit to talk his way out of corners isn’t dissimilar to Uncut Gem’s Howard Ratner. Both are insanely confident and driven to win, and both can be described as narcissistic, exploitative, and manipulative.

Where Howard’s frequent bad decisions drive Uncut Gems’ plot forward at the cost of the audience’s empathy, Marty is a much more sympathetic character. He may not always make the righteous decision, but he does it with an affability reminiscent of Paul Newman or Robert Redford in a ’70s crime movie.

There’s a moment early in the film where the press is interviewing Marty about his opponent in an upcoming match and, when he says, “I’ll do to him what Auschwitz didn’t.” There was a huge gasp in the theater when I saw the film, followed up quickly by, “It’s okay if I say it. I’m Jewish,” which got a big laugh.

That kind of outrageous claim is part of Marty’s charm and is also a testament to Chalamet’s on-screen charisma. It takes a lot of confidence to pull off a line like that, and it isn’t the only time Marty drops that kind of conversational bomb in the film.

But this is a Josh Safdie movie, and his films’ vibes are not those of a George Roy Hill movie. With Marty Mauser, Chalamet puts his own stamp on that Safdie brand of overwhelming turbulence by combining the hectic intensity Al Pacino brought to roles like Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon with the charisma Paul Newman brought to Gondorff, his Depression-era grifter in The Sting. When he needs to talk his way out of a situation, he’s pure Pacino. When he needs to talk his way into something, he’s all Newman. But the best writing and acting in Marty Supreme comes in the scenes where Chalamet code-switches from Pacino to Newman mid-scene.

The Supporting Cast Does More Than Just Support

But as incredible as Chalamet is, he’s also bolstered by a very talented supporting cast.

Odessa A’zion’s Rachel is an absolute scene-stealer, which is fitting because her character is just as conniving as her on-again, off-again boyfriend Marty. When she and Marty clash, she’s a cunning foe. But she’s at her best when she’s scheming alongside him. Watching Rachel and Marty realize they can grift together to achieve a common goal creates some of the funniest, most dynamic moments of dialogue in the whole film.

Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow delivers a quietly stoic performance that provides a meditative contrast to Chalamet’s overly confident Marty. As an aging actress married to a wealthy businessman, she plays Kay with a subdued melancholy borne from decades of disappointment after choosing a golden cage instead of gambling on a bigger career. There’s an undercurrent to Kay’s encounters with Marty; each sees a possible version of themselves in the other that evokes a kind of Dickensian duality. In Kay, Marty sees a Ghost of Christmas Future; in Marty, Kay sees a Ghost of Christmas Past. Besides the thematic implications of their relationship, Kay still has beauty, status, wealth, and access to her husband - all things Marty desperately wants.

Which leads us to Kay’s husband, Milton Rockland - played by Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful himself, Kevin O’Leary, who turns in a serviceable performance for a non-actor. That said, his je ne sais quoi translates after being honed from over a decade “in the tank.” To fans of the show, some of O’Leary’s interactions with Marty will evoke the familiar vibes of desperate contestants trying to weasel just a bit more cash out of the sharks.

Quite simply, Kevin O’Leary is pure stunt casting, and I’m absolutely here for it.

Then there’s Wally, Marty’s closest ping pong partner/occasional partner-in-crime, played by Tyler Okonma (better known as Tyler the Creator). They have a great chemistry together that seems to transcend the characters. It looks like the actors are having a blast on set, especially when they’re hustling some marks at ping pong. But when things go south, Okonma’s performance demonstrates an impressive amount of range. He’s made a truly notable debut here.

Nearly every performance in this film is top-notch, but nothing took me by surprise quite like thea cameo from Abel Ferrara.

You need to understand, I LOVE movies about New York City scumbags. Everything from Goodfellas to Midnight Cowboy to, of course, Uncut Gems to Ferrara’s own Bad Lieutenant. So seeing the director show up made me quite giddy. Ferrara created some of ’90s cinema’s most enigmatic New York scumbags, and his supporting role as Ezra Mishkin, a probably-mobbed-up criminal brings a heavy dose of chaos to the film.

Marty Supreme Might Be Safdie and Bronstein’s Best Script

Marty Supreme marks the fourth writing collaboration between Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safide. While not my favorite, it’s their most refined and definitely has the most mainstream appeal.

From a technical standpoint, it has exactly what I expect from a Safdie-directed screenplay: relentless, expertly-crafted tension in scenes full of what I’d now consider textbook constructions of Safdie-induced anxiety.

But there’s something new in this script, which is key to its mainstream appeal. With Marty Supreme, Bronstein and Safdie figured out how to ratchet up stress without sacrificing the audience’s empathy for the main character.

Both Good Time and Uncut Gems follow that old mold: desperate characters willing to lie, cheat, manipulate, and scam their way into achieving their goals. Marty Mauser is absolutely cut from the same cloth, but he’s just way more sympathetic. While Chalamet’s performance undoubtedly plays a part, Marty is still just a kid chasing a ridiculous dream. And his resolute transparency about his goals makes him kind of endearing. Things may go south for him, but it's that innate honesty - unlike Robert Pattinson’s Connie in Good Time or Adam Sandler’s Howard - that makes you want him to win. The risks he’s taking, while increasingly absurd, are usually reactions to the chaos around him as opposed to consequences of self-destructive decisions.

Marty Supreme may be a movie about ping pong, but its most memorable moments happen far from the table. This is a sports movie, so I don’t think it's too much of a spoiler to say the third act centers on a climactic match. But where the film really gets your heart pumping, where Safdie-induced stressors from all the quick cuts and cacophony of sound design really crescendo, is in Act Two. When you first walk out of the theater, it’ll be scenes from the middle section that you can’t wait to discuss.

That’s not to say the film doesn’t stick the landing - it does. But Act Two builds tension that’s best compared to Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff but not falling until he realizes the ground has disappeared from underneath him. But instead of a few seconds of comedic timing, it takes over an hour for Marty to look down - all while the stakes continue to build.

Don’t Stress: The Safide Cinematic Style Is Alive and Well in Marty Supreme

As I’ve mentioned multiple times, I think Uncut Gems is a masterpiece. In 2019, there was no film like it - an anxiety attack from start to finish. I was absolutely addicted. So when the Safdie brothers announced their creative split, I was concerned.

From a directing standpoint, it turns out that Josh Safdie might be the driving creative influence behind the brothers’ previous films. People yelling and talking over each other. Loud, uncomfortable, recurring noises that almost function as an unwelcome percussionist moving the scene along. Rapid cuts between close-ups and handheld wide shots. All these techniques are put to great effect in Marty Supreme.

But the table tennis scenes are shot in a distinctly different way, which makes them really stand out. Instead of the quick cuts and jarring juxtapositions of framing, the ping pong matches are covered in longer wides. That’s great for two reasons. First, it shows just how good Timothée Chalamet got at ping pong. Yeah, he’s playing “against” real-life pros, who are working with him to make the play feel as complex as possible. But a ton of these volleys are genuine physical feats, and it shows incredible instinct on Safdie’s part not to over-direct them.

Also, before I forget, Koto Kawaguchi, who plays Marty’s professional table tennis rival, Koto Endo, does an incredible job in these matches, making it very clear he’s the movie’s pro player. However, he also does a great job portraying Endo as an enigmatic rival waiting for Marty - if he can earn his way back into competition.

Without a doubt, Marty Supreme is one of the best movies of the year. If I were Howard Ratner, I’d take the over on audiences liking Marty Supreme more than Uncut Gems and parlay that with a best actor statue for Chalamet.

This movie owes a lot to Uncut Gems. I’m not trying to say Marty Supreme doesn’t innovate - it does - but much of what works in Marty Supreme also worked in Uncut Gems. Both films are about a character figuring out “how they win.”

To me, Marty Supreme and Uncut Gems will spawn many of their own “Goodfellas/Casino” debates in the future. It doesn’t matter what side you take; we’re insanely lucky all these films exist. Personally, I still prefer Uncut Gems, but I’m also aware I might be in the minority. For most, Marty Supreme will triumph merely because Marty Mauser is a much more endearing character than Howard Ratner.

Regardless, this film solidifies Josh Safdie as one of the most unique and exciting directors working in Hollywood right now. And Marty Supreme is easily one of the best movies of the year.