DREAM BIG.

New York, 1952; Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) is trying to bring attention to table tennis, a sport few people are taking seriously.

Inspired by the colorful real-life table tennis player (and author) Marty Reisman, this long and chaotic film is similar to Uncut Gems (2019) in its portrait of a main character fighting like an animal to achieve his goals, which involves handling an affair with a friend’s wife, hustling for money and trying to woo a movie star. Gwyneth Paltrow is good in her first lead role in a decade; Chalamet mesmerizing as the infuriating Mauser.

Exhausting, but there’s always a good scene coming up. Audience-pleasing but satisfying use of ’80s and ’90s pop songs.

2025-U.S. 150 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Josh Safdie. Screenplay: Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie. Cinematography: Darius Khondji. Music: Daniel Lopatin. Cast: Timothée Chalamet (Marty Mauser), Gwyneth Paltrow (Kay Stone), Odessa A’zion (Rachel Mizler), Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher… Penn Jillette, David Mamet. Voice of Robert Pattinson.

Trivia: Co-produced by Safdie and Chalamet.

Golden Globe: Best Actor (Chalamet).

Last word: “My wife buys me this book and it opened my eyes to this subculture in New York City. And the pictures in it, Timmy just looked like these guys: rail thin, kind of wiry misfits. But Timmy has these good looks that kind of make him mainstream in a way. And he’s a dancer and he’s an athlete and these guys, they’re like ballet dancers. So I said to him, ‘There’s something here, I want to put you in this world.’ He’s like, ‘In the ’50s? I said, ‘Yeah.’ While I was doing research, I was listening to this Peter Gabriel track. And there was this haunted feeling, watching this like late ’40s British Open match with this super big, high-production New Wave pop music.” (Safdie, GQ)