Tyler Okonma did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Wally in Marty Supreme.
Marty Supreme has an unusual collection of performers, per the Safdie way, where while there are some professional actors the distinct faces seems more so the focus of director Josh Safdie than their professional resume when it comes to the supporting cast. A tricky approach yet one that can pay such unique dividends. One such example is Tyler Okonma, evidently better known as Tyler the creator, who had some acting roles though usually random television appearances and cameo style of appearances. But his work here you’d think he was just as reliable a character actor as any as we find him as Wally, a taxi driver and fellow ping player with Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet). Who we find as his close confidants where Okonma more than holds his own against the more established cinematic presence of Chalamet. In fact I love the matching though slightly more subdued energy that Okonma brings in his reaction to Chalamet, essentially offering Wally as the version of Marty if Marty were a bit more down to earth. The sense of friendship and a history of that friendship in their quick interaction in their first scene together really speaks to years of some ball busting and general friendly rivalry in their games. Wally comes back into play as Marty is in need of cash and Wally isn’t only Marty’s playing partner, he’s also his table hustling partner. Where again Okonma in just a few line deliveries, even when just over the phone, manages to convey a mix of frustration, friendship and intrigue as Wally’s willing to go along with Marty but also is a bit tempered in his expectations.
We get a great banter scene when he meets Marty up at a dingy hotel and Okonma beautifully plays lower energy against Chalamet’s heightened. I especially admire his hilarious and down to earth delivery of “that’s how you get a bladder infection” after Marty claims his particular ability to restrain himself in a certain very private respect. Okonma really plays up to every down and vice versa with Chalamet, where they have excellent chemistry and you just sense these two truly go way back. An element only further amplified where each plays their parts at a bowling alley where they enact their hustle. Okonma’s so much fun in playing up his sad sack part as a seemingly injured man. Okonma brings the right lost quality to every bit and just plays up the pleasantly sorrowful man who just wants money to get home. Where you can see how he might endear himself to the patrons enough to bet on his behalf in order to show Marty playing the part of the racist jerk heel who will take a man’s last few dollars just for the sake of it.
Leading to their successful hustle where both are magnificent in their jubilant singing and dancing around Wally’s nearly empty gas taxi cab, and each capture a sense of friendship but also the sense of the specific victory of their plan. Although there are a few exceptions as Marty asks for more money and again in just a brief exchange Okonma’s delivery of asking Marty not to screw him over is with knowledge of a man who does like Marty but knows he can only trust Marty up until a point. The trouble with Marty rears its head as those hustled find the two together, and the two make a rapid egress that leaves Okonma’s taxi damaged. A quick scene but important in the anger with attachment in Okonma’s voice where it is with the connection specifically for taking care of his family. It’s not pure hatred though, as even in his anger Okonma still conveys a bit of kid gloves he does give his friend. Something emphasized by his last brief scene in the tennis table hall where after it all Wally couldn’t be more cheerful in calling out Marty’s name. As much as I love Marty Supreme I would not have minded more Wally because Okonma picks up the part so perfectly so quickly. He doesn’t have a ton of screentime but in that screentime he fully breathes life into the part, particularly in that chemistry with Chalamet. Okonma doesn’t waste a second and if the film had been just the adventures of Wally and Marty, there’s no question Okonma could’ve carried that as well.
Abel Ferrara did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Ezra Mishkin in Marty Supreme.
Speaking of memorable faces there are few people with less memorable faces than off-beat director Abel Ferrara who pops into the film as a random dingy hotel denizen who has a dog that’s quite beloved to him. Casting a director weirdly seems always a wise decision as the great examples of it you do get such an idiosyncratic presence, which is certainly the case for Ferrara, who you probably could’ve shot just hanging around the set and that would’ve been interesting footage. As you have his particular way of the always non happy grin, that more than a slight daze in his eyes and of course his way of talking right through his teeth. Making every moment he does have onscreen just kind of interesting on its own. But Ferrara’s performance is more than visual casting, which is a lot because he seems like just the guy you’d see in this particular time and place in a way that enlivens those details. Ferrara’s performance though is on point regardless as we get his immediate pain when Marty accidentally drops a bathtub on him while he’s washing his tub, Ferrara doing some great pain acting, by not only doing the direct visceral reaction but even managing to convey his hurriedness as he tries to hire Marty to take his dog to the vet, bringing appreciation and concern within the pain so naturally. Of course Marty being as he is the dog runs away yet he and his “not” girlfriend Rachel (Odessa A’Zion) try to get money from Ferrara Mishkin. Ferrara’s vocal work in the phone call scene alone is just so great in its idiosyncrasy, where he’s very funny in his particularly direct and earthy way of being baffled by her overpriced request, though finding nuance even when describing that his dog cost him nothing, which Ferrara plays pretty brilliantly as you sense the facade of it a bit as Mishkin does care about his dog despite the front. As we see as he’s willing to meet to get his dog as Rachel attempts a con, where Ferrara’s performance manages to be combination of hilarious and genuinely menacing with particularly his delivery of “Fuck this” as he quickly sees through the scheme. Where Ferrara brings this natural dangerousness as he goes about casually stabbing someone and Ferrara makes it unnerving in the convincing ease of this guy’s willingness to stab essentially. Which extends as he kidnaps the pregnant Rachel and honestly his threat of taking a hammer to her stomach, to get Marty to come along, is bone chilling because the casual way Ferrara says it sells it completely as something Mishkin would totally do. Leading to a literal gunfight to get his dog back where I love how much genuine concern there is in Ferrara's voice as he calls for his dog. It's a wonderful bit of work because everything about Ferrara suggests a whole world and history that we get just a memorable glimpse of here.
Then there’s one more performer who I won’t include his picture or name for the sake of certain readers but he didn’t receive an Oscar nomination either for portraying Milton Rockwell. But it would be disingenuous of me to review performances of Emil Jannings and Robert Blake but skip this one. As the performer in question also is not a professional actor, though heavily featured on “reality” pitch show Shark Tank, which I’ve seen a few episodes via being in company with fans of the show. Playing the role of a horrible rich guy which maybe isn’t the biggest stretch but downplaying someone as “playing themselves” is something I always bristle at. As easier said than done. For me this was a curious casting that worked for me wholly, maybe because my exposure was only as the guy offering the most parasitic deals on potential entrepreneurs. As much of it is playing right into the same type and use of what we see in Shark Tank, which let’s be honest is also a performance, essentially where he delivers a tone not of a mentor, or really even a teacher, rather a patronizing dictator of his business acumen that you should just listen to and that’s that. Honestly if you cast a more seasoned actor you probably would get more hidden depths to this guy, but weirdly I think it works maybe better in presenting Rockwell as a particularly hideous force. For example, even when he’s bringing up his dead son, the emotion behind it isn’t sorrow more of this like this annoyed repetition of a man who had his property stolen. And that isn’t an emotionless performance, rather he does play different levels of annoyance towards Marty who doesn’t listen to him, and builds from scene to scene showing a growing intensity of distaste for Marty. Leading to Marty begging for a second chance from the man by submitting to a fixed tennis match which Rockwell only allows if Marty will succumb to a literal paddling. Where the performance of gratification of each hit has such intense smarmy that is pretty remarkable, something extends to the watching of Marty’s humiliation in the fixed match, where the performer's smile is filled with such a vile pleasure. Playing towards the notes with variation but instead of a way to make you like Rockwell, you see even more how horrible he is, which may or may not have been the intention however it works. And simply put, since the performer, during the climactic match that Marty refuses to throw, evidently came up with the line "I was born in 1601. I'm a vampire. I've been around forever. I've met many Marty Mausers over the centuries. Some of them crossed me, some of them weren't straight. They weren't honest. And those are the ones that are still here. You go out and win that game, you're gonna be here forever too. And you'll never be happy. You will never be happy." I must say the casting wholly worked for me. That line is great, but the matter of fact delivery of it works as this man either being one or at least believing himself to be a representation of this force of control and exploitation that makes dictations on the world as he sees fit.
