Marty Supreme (2025, Josh Safdie)

Marty Surpeme says a lot of things

Marty Surpeme says a lot of things

movie ends with marty facing the consequences of his actions without a way to wiggle out of the frame of the mirror. 

devastation. a life created is a life lost, he will never be marty supreme. this was a man scraping just to get to events. who needed to find a way to provide for his mom.

his only breakthrough, which he squanders (twice), is via The ink salesman. Vague and jarring vampire line meant 

far from inventive imagery. I am not the biggest tennis fan but I've watched enough to confidently guestimate that most grand slam finals probably end with the winner laying on the ground in celebration. And tennis finals, many of them longer than the time we spend with Marty here (a brisk 140 minutes), allowing for a true relationship to be built between audience and character. but the behind the scenes detail we see in Marty's struggle (so much of it of his own doing, admittedly), magnifies a meaningless moment into a gold medal affair. we recognize that this is unlikely to be a step in Marty Mauser's redemption story. We aren't left to believe that, having shown his talent in this impromptu match, the ITAA will reinstate him next time around. With how hard it was for Marty to make it to events, the birth of a child all but dooms him. 

Endo returns to Japan to be a humble craftsman. Marty's ambitions never considered returning to a shoe salesman. he said he would never do it before he had even won a match. 

Slimy, but never slick enough slip off. You’re always stuck. 

Sometimes the product of our obsession will not live up to the suffering . But to deny its importance to ourselves is to say our scars are hollow, our tears not sour or sweet. 

Marty Mauser says a lot of things. None with more conviction not when bragging about his prowess as a player or trying to sell something, but when his ability to provide is brought into question