Rich acting, strong ensemble in ‘Tony’ delectably serve Bourdain’s story
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The perfect pizza starts with quality ingredients — flavorful tomato sauce, high-quality dough and the right amount of fresh mozzarella.
Likewise, director Matt Johnson mixes clever storytelling techniques and rich acting performances to create “Tony” — a delectable biopic compared to the genre’s frequently bland entries. However, Johnson’s unrestrained creative liberties leave this Anthony Bourdain flick tasting overdone at times.
Released nationwide on Friday, “Tony” follows 19-year-old Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) during the summer of 1975. The partly fictionalized film shows Bourdain’s origins in the kitchen, which sparked his career as a celebrity chef, storyteller and television host until his death in 2018.
At the start of summer, Bourdain, a Vassar College student, applies for a New York City writing fellowship but gets rejected. Bourdain then learns his high school crush, Nancy (Emilia Jones), would be spending her summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Unbeknownst to his parents, Bourdain heads to Cape Cod, the film’s primary setting, to hopefully form a relationship with Nancy. Upon arrival, he discovers that Nancy is dating her fellow employee at a pizza shop in Provincetown.
Heartbroken, Bourdain visits The Flagship, a local eatery where he slurps down oysters on the half shell and chugs several Miller High Lifes. After being rude to the bartender, an intoxicated Bourdain is kicked out of the restaurant by Chef (Antonio Banderas), The Flagship’s owner, and falls asleep on the sidewalk.
The next morning, Bourdain wakes up on Chef’s hammock and tries to catch a ferry home. While on the docks, Bourdain runs into Nancy — claiming it’s a coincidence that he’s in Provincetown — which motivates him to stay. With nowhere to go, he starts washing dishes at The Flagship in exchange for a place to stay (Chef’s home).
Thanks to Chef, Bourdain learns culinary skills — starting with shucking oysters — kicking off his storied career as a chef, storyteller and documentarian.
Sessa, who trained with culinary consultants for the role, is the key ingredient in “Tony.”
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In Bourdain’s memoir “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” he described his teenage self as “a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout.” With that in mind, Sessa delivers an honest performance.
Without consistent character development throughout the movie, Sessa’s melancholic energy makes his interpretation feel static at times. Still, there’s a clear dichotomy to Bourdain, especially in his interactions with other characters; he’s simultaneously awkward and confident.
I don’t expect Sessa to win an Academy Award for “Tony,” but his portrayal of Bourdain — and his wonderful performance in “The Holdovers” — piques my interest for any of his upcoming projects.
While Sessa is the star, the supporting cast is no forgettable appetizer; they’re integral to the entrée.
Banderas is easily the most loveable character in “Tony.” Chef’s passion is contagious, and he holds himself to the same standard as each of his employees. And though he’s worked in Michelin star restaurants across the globe, he chose to settle in Provincetown, selling seafood at a modest eatery. With his positive presence, Chef acts as a foil to Bourdain’s doom and gloom.
Likewise, Nancy contrasts starkly with Bourdain. Jones is charming yet strong, often shutting down Bourdain’s arrogance.
And The Flagship’s employees are a riot. Stavros (Stavros Halkias) is a constant source of comedic relief, whether he’s hyping himself up or poking fun at Bourdain, while Sal (Leo Woodall) is a nuanced character. Equipped with a thick Boston accent, Sal takes Bourdain under his wing but introduces him to cocaine and other self-destructive habits.
The garnish sprinkled throughout “Tony” is Johnson’s excellent visual storytelling — like oysters showcasing Bourdain’s development. Johnson cleverly parallels the beginning and end of the film. At the beginning, Bourdain speaks with a three-person committee about the writing fellowship, only to be rejected over the phone. The film ends with Bourdain sitting across from an admissions committee at the Culinary Institute of America where Banderas’ character attended. This time, Bourdain is admitted.
Johnson’s framing felt intentional, too. When Bourdain calls his family for the first time since he left home, a wide shot reveals him using a payphone in an alleyway. He’s only in a small portion of the frame, while pedestrians walking by sweep across the screen, reflecting Bourdain’s physical distance from his family and their distressing relationship.
Though Johnson’s creativity is the cherry on top of a sharp film, his embellished storyline is the pitfall of “Tony.”
For most of the movie, Bourdain’s excuse for following Nancy is that he’s writing a novel in Provincetown. But in real life, Bourdain worked at Cape Cod restaurants during summers, and he was already dating Nancy.
It’s routine for biopics to take artistic liberties, but in “Tony,” the inciting incident is fictitious.
Johnson seems to acknowledge his approach in the film, though. During his interview with the committee about his writing fellowship, his story idea is an imaginary conversation between writers George Orwell and Jack Kerouac — a possible self-aware nod to Johnson’s partly fictionalized script.
It’s refreshing to watch a biopic that focuses on a slim amount of the subject’s life — especially since “Tony” is a coming-of-age flick and not about his fame. But the film’s rewatchability is hurt by an exaggerated storyline, which dilutes its impact.
Still, “Tony” is a biopic that goes against the grain. After Johnson’s movie “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” — one of the best comedies in recent memory — premiered at 2025’s SXSW Film & TV Festival, he continued the momentum in “Tony.”
Despite its imperfections, Sessa and Johnson cranked up the heat.
