“I’m A Film Writer & Here’s My Honest Review Of The Anthony Bourdain Biopic, Tony”

Anthony Bourdain seemed like someone who would always end up with a biopic, given his many memoirs working in kitchens and his popular TV personality that still resonates. One has come along from A24 in the form of Tony, directed by Matt Johnson (BlackBerry) and starring The Holdovers’ breakout star, Dominic Sessa. It follows a young Bourdain taking a summer job in a Massachusetts kitchen, when his life was undisciplined but very sure of his own potential. Does it work as a biopic? Read on for more:

What is Tony about?

How do you capture the life and career of someone like Anthony Bourdain? Instead of cramming in as many life events as possible, Tony focuses in on one section of the cook’s younger years covered in Kitchen Confidential. He’s far from the TV presenter of shows like Parts Unknown, and is a young adult who aspires to be a writer but, unable to get a scholarship, runs away from home and arrives in Provincetown on Cape Cod. He’s keen to see a girl (Emilia Jones), who he knows will be there also, but as he finds himself with no money or place to stay, he ends up working for a summer in a local restaurant.

It definitely feels like a smart move to focus on a small slice of Bourdain’s life, since covering many years and key moments has been to the detriment of many biopics and can make them feel more like a checklist. This isn’t a story where the main character is adrift and a novice and ends up fully formed as the person we all know they become at the end; instead, it offers a glimpse at many of the qualities that would define the writer-chef. His rockstar rebellious persona is established early on, as Tony self-assuredly tells people about his genius and potential. Sessa’s performance is a logical leap from his schoolboy character in The Holdovers, who there as here needs a mentor to help him gain perspective and direction.

How are the performances?

True to Kitchen Confidential (and many other stories from Bourdain’s life), the cooks Tony works with tend to have memorable personas. The head chef and restaurant owner himself is played by Antonio Banderas and known only as “Chef”, and as the story progresses and he becomes less of an imposing boss and more of a mentor (and rounded character), we see Banderas’ very good performance typical of the actor. Soft-spoken yet with an undeniable authority, Chef takes a long time to command proper respect from the moody Tony.

Soft-spoken yet with an undeniable authority, Chef takes a long time to command proper respect from the moody Tony.

Leo Woodall plays Sal, another kitchen worker and closer in age to Tony, who has swagger and the pretence of being able to show you the ropes before it’s revealed that he has a pretty volatile temperament (dangerous for a chef) and is prone to explode. Emilia Jones plays a hard-to-impress love interest for Tony, who he tries to woo with big words and literary knowledge, but does the job well.

So, is it worth it?

The direction throughout feels surprisingly understated, in a good way- it would be easy to imagine an overly stylised, overly “cool” depiction of Anthony Bourdain onscreen that wouldn’t work. There’s certainly some flair and swagger in some of the restaurant scenes, but largely Matt Johnson allows the film to focus on the very messy character that Tony is, reminding us in the beginning of Bourdain’s self-descriptive quote that he was a narcissistic and thoughtless young lout when he took that summer job.

The direction throughout feels surprisingly understated, in a good way- it would be easy to imagine an overly stylised, overly “cool” depiction of Anthony Bourdain onscreen that wouldn’t work.

While the cinematography and look of the film are perhaps a bit less interesting than his previous film, BlackBerry, this feels like an honest film that, while it may not be totally accurate to real life, captures the vibe of the stories told in Kitchen Confidential. It’s certainly worth seeing if you like Anthony Bourdain, and worth seeing if you like a good movie.