Timmy Ping Pong in a Safdie Crash Out (Sports) Drama

Since the Safdie Brothers broke up as co-directors, Josh Safdie has kept a comparatively low profile. Where Benny Safdie has acted consistently in projects like Licorice Pizza, Oppenheimer, and the upcoming The Odyssey, as well as co-creating and starring in The Curse, Josh Safdie has done a little voice work, directed Adam Sandler’s 2024 comedy special, Love You, and produced projects for other people. But now Josh Safdie is back as a solo director with Marty Supreme, aka the Timothee Chalamet ping pong movie.

The trailer just dropped today, getting a jump on holiday movie season advertising. Chalamet is in full Timmy Ping Pong mode, and the trailer is a weirdly charming mix of 80s sports movie optimism and Safdie Brand Upsetting Nervousness. As much as the “Forever Young” lyrics are pumping nostalgia and vibes, Timmy Ping Pong is all sweat and rat moustache. Upsetting. Nervous. Very Safdie.

Chalamet stars as Marty Mauser, a fictionalized version of Marty Reisman, the man who helped popularize table tennis in America. The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, and Fran Drescher. Allegedly, Marty Supreme is now A24’s biggest budgeted film, and with a Christmas Day release date, they’re clearly hoping to experience the same kind of box office rush as A Complete Unknown last year. It might actually be possible, based on the draw of Timmy Ping Pong combined with—and I know you’ll hate me mentioning this, but it IS part of this film’s appeal to audiences of a certain age—Gwyneth Paltrow’s return to serious film acting.

I know some people will object to classifying Marty Supreme as a sports movie, and I agree, I don’t THINK that’s really what it is, but this trailer is certainly SELLING it that way. It’s probably more accurately described as a character study that just happens to feature table tennis, but again, this trailer is selling Marty Supreme as an underdog sports movie, undoubtedly because those are hugely popular with audiences. 

Hopefully they’re not overselling it, because nothing makes audiences angrier than feeling lied to by marketing, and if Marty Supreme turns out to be less Miracle and more Safdie Crash Out Drama, people might feel upset. I know Safdie films always make me feel upset (compliment). Interestingly, Benny Safdie also has a new sports movie out this year, The Smashing Machine with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. I’m sure there’s no weird brother stuff there at all.