I don't have my thoughts organized on the movie as a whole, but I'd really love to hear what other people have to say about the final match.
After finding out he's been excluded from the brackets in Japan, he turns the promotional match into a "real" match. This part still confuses me. As the viewer it seemed like a big brick wall that this freight train of a character ran into, and I expected chaos and meltdown. But instead, it was enough for him? He lays on the ground crying what seem to be happy tears. Truly shocking to me that the character seems to treat this as satisfactory to his crazy drive to compete at the highest level. Why did this match "count" for him?
I really loved the movie and your essay as well. The one thing I'd challenge is: is Marty really a grifter? He genuinely might be the best tennis table player in the world! I think that fact sort of changes my reading of the movie, with the Gwyneth character as a cautionary tale about missing your moment... and I think at the end, when he's crying, it's partially that he's moved by fatherhood but really it's that he's realized that he missed his moment
I heard this secondhand, but I think there’s a podcast out there where Safdie explains the ending he wanted and was rejected by A24– basically it fast forwards to the 80’s and Marty is at a tears for fears concert with his grandson. He sees Kevin O’Leary and Kevin bites him in the neck because he’s a vampire! Can you imagine? I think it may have worked!! Is that real? Can anyone confirm?
This is a great review! I think I share your enjoyment/ambivalence for the movie, and I can't help thinking about in terms of the structure and writing. I think the biggest flaw comes right at the beginning of the movie, the jumpcut from Marty arguing with the ping pong guy about deserving the 5 star hotel because he is their best player, to him being in the hotel. As the entire movie's plot hinges on Marty's debt accrued at the hotel, I think the jump really undercuts a lot of things that could have been made more clear in those interstitial moments. did he sneak into the hotel? did he win the argument? I understand that the jump cut was played for laughs, but, as it really becomes the whole heart of the movie that everything hinges on, I think it kind of sends up the whole movie to fail. (in my opinion, it's got a great opening and ending and loses its way in the middle) It is ambiguous and the second confrontation with the ping pong guy in Japan is made less clear by us not really understanding where they'd left off. I feel like I'm not explaining myself very well but I'm just gonna hit post anyway and hope I'm making sense! I also thought the whole dog plotline got really tedious and boring, chaos for the sake of chaos.
Totally agree with these critiques!! There seemed to be less of a focus on the exact narrative details in favor of revving the anxiety engine as much as possible
I also understood the birth this way! Marty seemed to me a person very much in love with himself, and so the baby was basically an extension of himself, that's why it moved him so much, as in "I created this!" So in a way it's him again only thinking of himself. At least that's how it seemed to me. Thank you, Haley, for that great review! :)
I also loved watching it and was left cold. Totally agree that all movies about selfish ambitious losers glorify selfish ambitious losers.
I did like the ambiguity of the ending though. My husband and I interpreted it totally differently. I thought he was coming home like, “ok, this baby, I beat the guy, I didn’t get what I wanted, but maybe I’ve had it all wrong and now maybe I’ll repair.” I found that simplistic and annoying for an end.
My husband thought it was an “oh shit” moment — he’s crying because maybe he’s overwhelmed by emotion, but mostly he feels sorry for himself and his lost dream. That that there’s no way a man that selfish and destructive would ultimately care about his baby or ever really change. I think that would be a better / more interesting ending if it was the intended one.
I like the ambiguity though. It has stuck around in my head.
Love this reading, Haley. I came away with a similar feeling that this is a cautionary tale about the individualistic nature of American ambition- but I think there’s another dimension here around class struggle and why collective action feels so impossible in America. Marty is ultimately trying to break out of the working class and he thinks his only way of doing so is to screw over everyone he cares about in the ruthless pursuit of his own goals. Yet his efforts are just a joke to the owner class, and they completely end up controlling his destiny, in spite of all the talent and drive in the world.
Throughout the movie various moneyed and powerful men (+ Gweneth) toy with him, giving him a glimmer of hope, then fuck him over for fun. His uncle doesn’t pay him what he’s owed, Rockwell literally debases him while treating him like plaything, the head of the championship leverages institutional rules to bar him from the one thing that might actually allow him to break out. The owner class is constantly teaching him a lesson so he can understand his place in the world and stay there. The harder he tries to overcome each obstacle in his way, the more he takes advantage of the people he cares about and burns bridges with his community. It’s almost unthinkable to imagine the community coming together to help Marty- and why should they? He’s been a massive jerk towards them all! (Interestingly, I rewatched It’s a Wonderful Life this Christmas and this movie came out in 1947- 5 years before Marty Supreme was set. The ending of that movie is so beautiful with the town coming together to save George- why is it so hard to imagine this happening in real life, or even in a movie, today?)
I thought the choice of 80s music might subtly emphasize this reading too- a decade when the owning class entrenched their position even further. And the choice of casting, as you mentioned, with the actors' real lives embodying their characters, perhaps shows that this cycle of owner class oppression continues and will continue on until the working class leaves this myth of the individualistic American dream behind.
The point you make about the film’s marketing is interesting- though the marketing’s purpose is to bring people in, and it’s successful at that because it’s marketed like a classic American tale of one man’s relentless ambition. What I found so compelling about how this story actually played out in the film is that it didn’t end the way you’d expect a story like this to end. Instead of our hero finally reaching success, the owner class succeeded in beating him down until he was forced to give up, which is tragically another more mundane way to view the American dream.
omgggg please watch "if I had legs, I'd kick you," which was written and directed by Mary bronstein, wife of Safdie collaborator Ronald Bronstein (also a producer) and produced by Josh Safide. It has been described by some as uncut gems but about motherhood; not sure I agree with that descriptor but while I was also unmoved by Marty I loveddddd if I had legs and would love ur perspective
"my suspicion is that he’s falling under the spell of the film itself, which, in its attempt to critique spectacle as the ultimate American meaning-maker, inadvertently celebrates it."
One of my pet peeves is actors who clearly don't understand the film they made. Disappointing to learn that Timmy, supposedly our primary hope of carrying on the legacy of the Movie Star, is one of them.
I also enjoyed the movie, and saw it in a crowded theater on Christmas Day which was fun. But pretty much from the jump I was so borrrrred by how the women characters are primarily there for Marty to use/take advantage of/fuck. “THAT’S THE POINT!!!” - yes, I understand, Marty is supposed to be viewed as an asshole in these moments. But tbh it also seemed to me like the people who made the movie also view women as peripheral to men’s stories. I left feeling like it was very much a movie made by dudes, for dudes, celebrating dudes.
I don't have my thoughts organized on the movie as a whole, but I'd really love to hear what other people have to say about the final match.
After finding out he's been excluded from the brackets in Japan, he turns the promotional match into a "real" match. This part still confuses me. As the viewer it seemed like a big brick wall that this freight train of a character ran into, and I expected chaos and meltdown. But instead, it was enough for him? He lays on the ground crying what seem to be happy tears. Truly shocking to me that the character seems to treat this as satisfactory to his crazy drive to compete at the highest level. Why did this match "count" for him?
Minneapolis baby here - THANK YOU HALEY for sharing MN mutual aid!
If any Babies want to follow/support on-the-ground news about what's going on in MN:
Sahan Journal (immigrant-led news) https://sahanjournal.com/
MN Reformer (legal reporting) https://minnesotareformer.com/
MIRAC (grassroots org) https://www.miracmn.com/
Unicorn riot (national but based here) https://unicornriot.ninja/
Thank you Annie!!
I really loved the movie and your essay as well. The one thing I'd challenge is: is Marty really a grifter? He genuinely might be the best tennis table player in the world! I think that fact sort of changes my reading of the movie, with the Gwyneth character as a cautionary tale about missing your moment... and I think at the end, when he's crying, it's partially that he's moved by fatherhood but really it's that he's realized that he missed his moment
Agree! So good!
I heard this secondhand, but I think there’s a podcast out there where Safdie explains the ending he wanted and was rejected by A24– basically it fast forwards to the 80’s and Marty is at a tears for fears concert with his grandson. He sees Kevin O’Leary and Kevin bites him in the neck because he’s a vampire! Can you imagine? I think it may have worked!! Is that real? Can anyone confirm?
I also heard that second hand and think it's hilarious, I hope its true
This is a great review! I think I share your enjoyment/ambivalence for the movie, and I can't help thinking about in terms of the structure and writing. I think the biggest flaw comes right at the beginning of the movie, the jumpcut from Marty arguing with the ping pong guy about deserving the 5 star hotel because he is their best player, to him being in the hotel. As the entire movie's plot hinges on Marty's debt accrued at the hotel, I think the jump really undercuts a lot of things that could have been made more clear in those interstitial moments. did he sneak into the hotel? did he win the argument? I understand that the jump cut was played for laughs, but, as it really becomes the whole heart of the movie that everything hinges on, I think it kind of sends up the whole movie to fail. (in my opinion, it's got a great opening and ending and loses its way in the middle) It is ambiguous and the second confrontation with the ping pong guy in Japan is made less clear by us not really understanding where they'd left off. I feel like I'm not explaining myself very well but I'm just gonna hit post anyway and hope I'm making sense! I also thought the whole dog plotline got really tedious and boring, chaos for the sake of chaos.
Totally agree with these critiques!! There seemed to be less of a focus on the exact narrative details in favor of revving the anxiety engine as much as possible
gah i just felt so bad for that poor baby at the end, with such assholes for parents
“I feel like if you’re not going up, you’re going down” is such an insane thing to say and think lol
lol
I also understood the birth this way! Marty seemed to me a person very much in love with himself, and so the baby was basically an extension of himself, that's why it moved him so much, as in "I created this!" So in a way it's him again only thinking of himself. At least that's how it seemed to me. Thank you, Haley, for that great review! :)
You put my exact thoughts onto paper and explored them further! The dream. Loved this review.
I also loved watching it and was left cold. Totally agree that all movies about selfish ambitious losers glorify selfish ambitious losers.
I did like the ambiguity of the ending though. My husband and I interpreted it totally differently. I thought he was coming home like, “ok, this baby, I beat the guy, I didn’t get what I wanted, but maybe I’ve had it all wrong and now maybe I’ll repair.” I found that simplistic and annoying for an end.
My husband thought it was an “oh shit” moment — he’s crying because maybe he’s overwhelmed by emotion, but mostly he feels sorry for himself and his lost dream. That that there’s no way a man that selfish and destructive would ultimately care about his baby or ever really change. I think that would be a better / more interesting ending if it was the intended one.
I like the ambiguity though. It has stuck around in my head.
Love this reading, Haley. I came away with a similar feeling that this is a cautionary tale about the individualistic nature of American ambition- but I think there’s another dimension here around class struggle and why collective action feels so impossible in America. Marty is ultimately trying to break out of the working class and he thinks his only way of doing so is to screw over everyone he cares about in the ruthless pursuit of his own goals. Yet his efforts are just a joke to the owner class, and they completely end up controlling his destiny, in spite of all the talent and drive in the world.
Throughout the movie various moneyed and powerful men (+ Gweneth) toy with him, giving him a glimmer of hope, then fuck him over for fun. His uncle doesn’t pay him what he’s owed, Rockwell literally debases him while treating him like plaything, the head of the championship leverages institutional rules to bar him from the one thing that might actually allow him to break out. The owner class is constantly teaching him a lesson so he can understand his place in the world and stay there. The harder he tries to overcome each obstacle in his way, the more he takes advantage of the people he cares about and burns bridges with his community. It’s almost unthinkable to imagine the community coming together to help Marty- and why should they? He’s been a massive jerk towards them all! (Interestingly, I rewatched It’s a Wonderful Life this Christmas and this movie came out in 1947- 5 years before Marty Supreme was set. The ending of that movie is so beautiful with the town coming together to save George- why is it so hard to imagine this happening in real life, or even in a movie, today?)
I thought the choice of 80s music might subtly emphasize this reading too- a decade when the owning class entrenched their position even further. And the choice of casting, as you mentioned, with the actors' real lives embodying their characters, perhaps shows that this cycle of owner class oppression continues and will continue on until the working class leaves this myth of the individualistic American dream behind.
The point you make about the film’s marketing is interesting- though the marketing’s purpose is to bring people in, and it’s successful at that because it’s marketed like a classic American tale of one man’s relentless ambition. What I found so compelling about how this story actually played out in the film is that it didn’t end the way you’d expect a story like this to end. Instead of our hero finally reaching success, the owner class succeeded in beating him down until he was forced to give up, which is tragically another more mundane way to view the American dream.
This is the best reading of the film I’ve read yet, kudos
Love your reading right back!
omgggg please watch "if I had legs, I'd kick you," which was written and directed by Mary bronstein, wife of Safdie collaborator Ronald Bronstein (also a producer) and produced by Josh Safide. It has been described by some as uncut gems but about motherhood; not sure I agree with that descriptor but while I was also unmoved by Marty I loveddddd if I had legs and would love ur perspective
IIHLIKY = motherhood as nightmare! I’m actually scared to recommend this movie to my friends who are parents!
"my suspicion is that he’s falling under the spell of the film itself, which, in its attempt to critique spectacle as the ultimate American meaning-maker, inadvertently celebrates it."
One of my pet peeves is actors who clearly don't understand the film they made. Disappointing to learn that Timmy, supposedly our primary hope of carrying on the legacy of the Movie Star, is one of them.
This hit the nail on the head for why I left this movie wondering “that’s what everyone is giving 5 stars on letterboxd ?”
I also enjoyed the movie, and saw it in a crowded theater on Christmas Day which was fun. But pretty much from the jump I was so borrrrred by how the women characters are primarily there for Marty to use/take advantage of/fuck. “THAT’S THE POINT!!!” - yes, I understand, Marty is supposed to be viewed as an asshole in these moments. But tbh it also seemed to me like the people who made the movie also view women as peripheral to men’s stories. I left feeling like it was very much a movie made by dudes, for dudes, celebrating dudes.