Richard Crouse

SYNOPSIS: In “Marty Supreme,” a new drama now playing on theaters, Timothée Chalamet plays an ambitious table tennis player who will stop at nothing in his pursuit of success and a lost dog. “Losing doesn’t even enter my consciousness,” he says.

CAST: Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara and Fran Drescher. Directed by Josh Safdie.

REVIEW: I might normally be skeptical about a movie that gives Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary billing, just under names like Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow, but “Marty Supreme” is such a blast of pure energy I’m willing to let it go.

Set in 1952, “Marty Supreme” begins with the title character brash New Yorker Marty Mauser (Chalamet) working as a show salesman to finance a trip to the British Table Tennis Open. He’s a prodigy, a world class ping pong player who believes the sport is the next big thing, and he wants to be part of that wave.

His quest for fame and fortune, however, is more unpredictable than a no-look serve in a ping pong match.

Equipped with only his talent, determination and arrogance, Marty’s rise, fall and redemption put him in contact with actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), her cruel business mogul husband Milton Rockwell (O’Leary), a violent dog owner (legendary filmmaker Abel Ferrara) and the irate husband of his childhood best friend Rachel (Odessa A’zion).

At 2 hours and 29 minutes “Marty Supreme” is an epic, Sammy Glick-style story of a guy who feeds off confidence and daring. Marty’s a fast talker in a propulsive movie that zips along as quickly as the quips that spoil effortlessly from his lips. It’s an exhilarating ride, a pedal to the metal—or paddle to ping pong ball—experience that showcases Chalamet’s career best performance. A bundle of desperation and inner struggle hidden under a veneer of overt confidence, Marty is pushed to extremes by ambition and Chalamet gets every sweaty, eager beat exactly right.

But it’s when things aren’t going Marty’s way that Chalamet shines. A squirmy, humiliating encounter (NO SPOILERS HERE), reveals both defiance and vulnerability, and it is that push and pull, that duality, that illustrates Marty’s determination into high gear. Like all good sports movies, it’s not about the big match at the end, it’s about the journey to the match and with chaotic scenes like this, and many others, “Marty Supreme” is a hell of a ride.

Chalamet is supported by a top-notch cast, including Odessa A’zion, who, in a breakout role, is the warming element that keeps the stratospheric story earth bound.

No story about the American Dream on steroids would be complete without a money-grubbing meanie, a character who values cash and power over Marty’s ambition and talent. Safdie didn’t look much beyond “Shark Tank” when he cast Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary, who lends his smarmy reality show energy to the film. He delivers but delivers exactly what you would expect in a movie that defies expectations at every turn.

“Marty Supreme” is exceptionalism both in its story and execution. A grand tale of aspiration and consequences, à la “Boogie Nights” and “Goodfellas,” it’s one of the year’s best films.