Is Timothee Chalamet Marty Supreme, or Casper the Ghost?

He skipped last night’s intimate, elegant after party for the NY p
premiere of his highly praised new movie, “Marty Supreme.”

Last week, he did the same thing in Los Angeles. In each case, Chalamet took pictures on the red carpet but did no interviews with the waiting press line.

Last night, studio A24 gave Chalamet a massive, five theater premiere at the Regal Theater on West 42nd St. They used five screens in the complex, with one for VIPS and the rest for fans.

Chalamet — wearing his signature orange suit — participated in the introduction of the cast, which took less than five minutes, then disappeared. He was seen for a nanosecond stepping onto an elevator at the end of the film, then backed out when he saw people on the lift.

The rest of the VIP audience headed downtown to the very classy National Arts Club on Gramercy Park. They included some of the cast (like Penn Jillette, Odessa A’zion, Larry “Ratso” Sloman, Fran Drescher, Sandra Bernhard), director Josh Safdie, and stars like Oscar winner Sissy Spacek, her husband Jack Fisk (the film’s three time Oscar nominee for production design), their daughter actress Schuyler Fisk, plus the great wire walker Phillippe Petit, Richard Kind, director Jake Paltrow (but no sister Gwyneth), actors Dylan O’Brien and Cooper Hoffman, director Benny Safdie, and MS NOW’s Ari Melber.

The Sharks from “Shark Tank” including Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, and Robert Herjavec came to support their colleague, Kevin O’Leary, who plays a convincing villain in Safdie’s brilliant film.

I’m not kidding about ‘brilliant.’ “Marty Supreme” is the “Rocky” of ping pong movies. But it’s also a fresh take on great movies of the 1950s from Elia Kazan with hints of “Bonnie & Clyde,” and the New York grittiness of Sidney Lumet. Safdie has pulled off a miracle here that, regardless of Chalamet’s orange merchandise and son, will be a film for the ages.

So what is this movie about? It’s the real story, embroidered, of Marty Reisman, a fast talking table tennis champion circa 1959, who pulled himself out of NY’s lower east side to become an international sensation. He runs a marathon for two and a half hours bursting with self confidence to overcome one obstacle after another. Marty is exhausting and enthralling, heightening the chaos of everyone around him.

Several things this film to watch for besides the actors: Darius Khondji’s spare cinematography, exquisite casting by Jennifer Venditti (there’s a picture below of Ralph Colucci and Luke Manley who steal their scenes), the score from Daniel Lopatin, ans Safdie’s Olympic editing.

This was a second viewing on big, big movie screen for me last night. “Marty” is a heart pounding race to a finish line, but you can’t really imagine what it will be. Then you get to the end and Chalamet, with a quivering lips — regardless of his real life cockiness — brings the whole thing home as he celebrates new life and a perfect top 40 song of hope seals the deal.