Movie Review: Tony

By John Corrado

The film Tony, Canadian director Matt Johnson’s new biopic of Anthony Bourdain, opens with a quote from the celebrity chef’s bestselling 2000 memoir Kitchen Confidential.

“I was – to be frank – a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, badly in need of a good ass-kicking,” the screen reads.

And it provides the perfect setup for Johnson’s immensely satisfying portrait of an arrogant young rebel, who, in no short order, lies about getting a scholarship, follows a girl to Provincetown for the summer, and gets humbled working in a kitchen.

The film is really based on one chapter from Kitchen Confidential, which Johnson, who also co-wrote the screenplay, turns into an extremely enjoyable 1970s hangout movie. We are first introduced to Tony (played by Dominic Sessa) as a cocky young college student in 1975, who dreams of being a writer. When he gets turned down for a writing scholarship, he decides to sneak away to Provincetown, chasing his crush Nancy (Emilia Jones).

Following a drunken episode on his first night in town, that finds Tony getting physically thrown out of a seafood joint, the restaurant’s owner and head chef (Antonio Banderas) decides to take a chance on this wayward kid. He gives him a job in his kitchen as a dishwasher, and also lets him sleep on his porch in his hammock, waking him up every morning for work with a pot of water to the face (a great running gag).

By focusing on this one summer in Bourdain’s early years, Tony provides more proof that this slice-of-life approach generally works better for biopics than trying to show someone’s life from cradle to the grave. Yes, we see the early glimpses of drug addiction and mental health struggles that Bourdain would face. But we don’t need to see the end of his life; the knowledge of it lends a bittersweetness to Tony that underpins the sense of hope and discovery. This underlying sense of mournfulness that Johnson brings to the material at times gives a deeper emotional weight to the story.

Sessa’s aura is what carries the movie. He captures the charming cockiness of a young Bourdain, the rough edges still intact. This is a similar character to his breakout role in The Holdovers, but the fact that he can make both of these characters feel distinct from each other speaks to his talents as an actor. Sessa does an excellent job of playing Tony’s arc, which finds him still holding onto his dream of being a writer, and reluctant to tell people that he works in a kitchen. Watching that melt away, as he comes into his own as a chef, is magical.

But this is not a one man show. Banderas does incredibly soulful work as the reluctant mentor, whose kind but firm tough-love approach provides the kick in the pants that young Tony needs. Rounding out the colourful cast of characters in the kitchen are Sal (Leo Woodall) and Stavros (Stavros Halkias). Woodall, coming off solid performances in Tuner and Nuremberg, continues to impress, stealing scenes as bad influence Sal. Halkias also provides comic relief.

The film arrives fresh off the breakout success of Johnson’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, and it feels like somewhat of a departure for him, not only because it finds him finally breaking through stateside and making an A24 movie (a great one, at that). It also shows that he is incredibly adept at adapting his filmmaking style to fit the time period and material. There are no digital zooms that have become a hallmark of his work, replaced with the grounded aesthetic of, well, a ‘70s movie.

The fact that Johnson is equally good at doing both shows his raw talent as a filmmaker (something us Canadians have known for years), forged by a genuine love for movies. This film is beautifully shot by cinematographer Michael Bauman, who does a wonderful job of capturing the warm summer aesthetic. The music by Jay McCarrol, Johnson’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie co-writer and co-star, provides perfect accompaniment.

It’s a food movie, sure, and a very good one at that. But the genius of Johnson’s Tony as a coming-of-age story is that it works as a compelling portrait of someone adrift in life finding purpose in the kitchen, that could be used as an allegory for finding meaning in any profession. There is a wiseness to the storytelling here, exemplified in the life lessons being imparted by the Antonio Banderas character.

Johnson’s film has such an easy, hangout movie quality to it that is hard to do well, especially without undercutting the more thematically weighty aspects of the material. Johnson fully nails that balance, without shying away from showing the bad behaviour in the kitchen. It’s one of the best movies of the year so far, and one of my favourites as well. A perfect end of summer movie.