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

Last edited Fri Jan 2, 2026, 03:56 PM - Edit history (1)

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.

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.

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.

Stupid gun play. Absurd plot elements. Gratuitous sex scenes. I gave up after 25 minutes.

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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.