Marty sits down in his bathtub to relax. Finally, after an hour of hustling, yelling and running through the streets, I found myself able to breathe for the first time in the movie as he simply soaks in a bathtub. A few seconds later, the bathtub has fallen through the floor and nearly crushed the man who lives in the room below him. 

This seemingly random moment of absurdity turns out to be a crucial event that completely alters the rest of the story, and captures exactly how “Marty Supreme” operates.

Josh Safdie’s latest film follows Marty Mauser, a fictionalized version of table tennis legend Marty Reisman, as he works his way from selling shoes on the Lower East Side to becoming an international ping pong champion. The movie is marketed as a sports film, but that label doesn’t really fit. While the ping pong matches are filled with genuine tension, they serve more as a backdrop for examining what drives someone to chase greatness in something nobody else takes seriously.

What stands out most about “Marty Supreme” is how disorganized the movie seems. It almost feels like a group of high school students put together the plot — not in a negative way, but in the sense that it throws in every wild idea without worrying about how they will fall into place. It’s refreshing to see a film that doesn’t follow the usual rules, instead caring more about capturing the messiness of Marty’s life than creating something “polished” according to typical Hollywood standards.

Timothée Chalamet perfectly encapsulates this disorder by portraying Marty as someone who’s simultaneously captivating and insufferable. He throws tantrums over minor slights, burns bridges with those who care about him and considers ping pong the most important thing in the world even though everyone around him sees it as a joke. Throughout the film, Chalamet’s acting balances making the viewer hate Marty with making them want to cheer him on.

The supporting cast pulls off performances just as impressive as Chalamet. In his feature film debut, rapper Tyler, The Creator, acting as Wally, Marty’s partner in crime, shows his ability to handle serious material and gives more depth to his performance than his limited acting experience would suggest.

Odessa A’zion as Rachel, Marty’s love interest, brings sincere emotion to every scene. She doesn’t allow the character of Rachel to devolve into a side character who does nothing to advance the plot of the story. Instead, A’zion’s impassioned performance reminds the viewer that Marty’s recklessness affects people outside of himself, and it’s one of the key elements that keeps the movie grounded when Marty’s chaotic perspective threatens to unravel it.

There are parts of the movie where the absurdity might verge on excess for some, but trimming it would make it lose part of its individuality. The side plots and seemingly pointless moments enhance the idea that the movie is depicting an authentic life rather than a fabricated story.

By the end of the film, rather than concluding with a traditional triumph or loss, “Marty Supreme” begins to present the more nuanced question regarding what winning actually entails. Marty’s journey is both remarkable and lonely as those he loves fall away as he climbs higher and higher.

I left the theater more struck by the movie’s attitude than its technical proficiency. “Marty Supreme” is a film that expresses its story on its own terms, even if those terms are boisterous and overwhelming. It’s refreshing to see a film be so unafraid and clumsy when nearly every other film nowadays is so meticulously engineered to “perfection.”