Marty Supreme review (5 stars and spoilers alert)
It's not often I come out of a movie knowing it's an instant classic that I will be re-watching 5/10/20 years from now, for the rest of my life. I know Marty Supreme is exactly that because it's basically a movie written for me and guys like me. I felt locked in from the first ten minutes, at a time where admittedly, I'm not watching a ton of movies like I used to because I have ADHD focus issues. I've been more of a TV guy the last five years. There are so many levels in which I love this movie.
I love seeing a man's stubborn single-mindedness driving his whole being. It makes me think about all the great athletes I've ever watched and how much sacrifice it takes to win and be great. Tom Brady sacrificed his family even after winning 7 Super Bowls. Some people are truly built different and yeah maybe that makes them weird or an asshole sometimes, unfortunately.
I love seeing a well-crafted journey of self-destruction and narcissism. It's what made the previous Safdie thrillers--Uncut Gems and Good Time--such a fun joy ride. Lot of "Oh Shit WTF" moments that left me with my hands over my mouth.
I love the archetypical sports movie hero's struggle. First you lose and it sucks. And then you struggle and then you conquer. This movie has its own completely unique flavor of this.
I love laughing at the Auschwitz joke. My kind of humor.
I love an arrogant shitbag of a protagonist who wants to rip wrestling promo's and tell cops to SMD. The stranger I chatted with at the movie's end did not. Your enjoyment of this movie may vary based on how much you can connect with an arrogant shitbag.
I love the uncertainty of the third act. You watch enough sports movies, you know how things usually end beat by beat. Given how Uncut Gems ended and the "development" of Marty's character in the 2nd act, I truly did not know whether he'd win or lose his final match. I could see artistic merits to both decisions. When the Japanese crowd stood up and roared against Marty, with the sound-mixing really pressing that button to the max, I felt like I just heard Rogers Stadium after the Blue Jays hit that 9th inning double in Game 6--oh shit, we're going to lose aren't we? I'm legit on the edge of my seat for the ending.
This movie had shades of...
The Hustler -- obviously there's a short scene of him actually hustling unsuspecting marks at a bowling alley but both movies also had a rich, evil benefactor threatening our heroes with absolute hell for the rest of their life if they didn't comply.
Rounders -- both very NYC movies, alternating between grimy, working class, and ritzy/upstanding settings, featuring a prodigiously skilled hero who gets way in over his head... except imagine if Marty was a lot more like Worm than Mike McD
Uncut Gems/Good Time -- morally grey characters doing whatever they can to survive or advance their agenda, even if it means making extremely questionable choices. And obviously a lot of the Safdies signature tension building with tons of noisy, feuding dialogues between multiple people and intense sound-mixing