Breathless

Breathless? Other possible one word titles for this particular blogpost might have been "Frenetic" or "Frantic" or "Frenzied".

I am referring to the film I went to see at The Showroom Cinema at lunchtime today. It was "Marty Supreme" starring Timothée Chalamet as table tennis champion Marty Mauser.

Set mostly in New York in the nineteen fifties, "Marty Supreme"  is a visual masterpiece as it rolls along at an energetic, breathless pace that mirrors the very character of Marty himself. He never stops and it is as if his brain is constantly in overdrive.

The last time I saw Timothée Chalamet in a leading role was when he played Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown". I reviewed that film a year ago right here. Whereas that film rolled like a benign sea, this one is more like a raging tempest.

The best filmstars like Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman and Cate Blanchett can genuinely act, taking on a range of different roles with true conviction. I think that Timothée Chalamet may be in the process of joining their illustrious ranks.

You do not have to be a table tennis fan to enjoy "Marty Supreme". In a sense, the table tennis is almost incidental. More interesting is the frantic and yes, frenetic way in which Marty uses other people to achieve his ambitions.

It is as if every other human he encounters is just there to be used - be it the fading filmstar Kay Stone played by Gwynneth Paltrow or his best buddy Wally the taxi driver played by Tyler Okonma. Marty seems to have no moral compass as he powers his life ever onward.

There's lots of humour in the film - some of it quite dark such as the plan that Marty's reluctant sponsor Milton Rockwell hatches that Marty should kiss a pig that is brought on stage when he loses a match with the Japanese champion - Koto Endo played by Koto Kawaguchi.

Directed by Josh Safdie, "Marty Supreme" is very loosely based on the life of American table tennis star Marty Reisman. Normally, I tend to go for calmer, more literary and more contemplative film dramas but it's nice to mix it up and not remain in one's familiar furrow. I am so glad that I went to see "Marty Supreme" this afternoon. "The Guardian" newspaper film reviewer gave it five stars and referred to it as a "spectacular screwball ping-pong nightmare". I get that.