"Josh Safdie's ping-pong nerve-jangler Marty Supreme races through ambition, vanity, humiliation, deception, soaring glory, crushing failure and the deathless allure of an 11th-hour comeback. All of this I recognise from hours of playing table tennis in our local park. But I recognise it, too, from nights at the theatre not so much the plays themselves, perhaps, rather the stage as a crucible for the careers of those involved."
"Safdie's wired style matches not just the adrenalised world of a tournament but also the sensation of stepping out on the stage. The film's subplot, about a Broadway play's fraught opening, becomes an inspired parallel to Marty's frantic story, with the Morosco theatre serving as a real historical venue that hosted significant theatrical premieres in 1952."
"Marty, as intent on seducing Kay as he is on raising funds to reach the table tennis world championships in Japan, watches rehearsals from the wings. Kay has been cast as a mother who is quarrelling with her teenage son—shades here of Marty and his own mum—but the scene doesn't take off and Kay chastises the performance of her co-star."
Marty Supreme weaves together the high-stakes worlds of competitive table tennis and Broadway theatre through parallel storylines. The protagonist Marty Mauser pursues both table tennis glory and seduction of Kay Stone, a 1930s film star attempting a theatrical comeback in a play set at the historic Morosco Theatre in 1952. Director Josh Safdie employs a wired, adrenaline-fueled style that captures the intensity of tournament competition and stage performance alike. The film explores themes of ambition, vanity, humiliation, deception, and the perpetual allure of comeback narratives. Kay's struggles with her theatrical performance and her marriage to producer Milton Rockwell mirror Marty's personal conflicts, creating thematic resonance between the two narratives.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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