Matt Johnson’s biopic Tony follows a young Anthony Bourdain, played by Dominic Sessa, as he spends a drug-filled, somewhat violent summer in Provincetown, New York, working as a pot wash turned chef. The film takes its main source material from the first chapters of Bourdain’s autobiography, Kitchen Confidential. Dominic Sessa shines as he effortlessly captures Tony’s self-proclaimed youthful arrogance while simultaneously highlighting his loneliness and vulnerability.
The film takes place in the mid-1970s, with Tony running away from home to follow Nancy, whom he has a steadfast crush on, played by Emilia Jones, after he fails to secure a writing fellowship at Vassar College.
Antonio Banderas and Leo Woodall both offer good support in their roles, with each serving as contrasting yet equally important influences on Tony’s psyche. Woodall serves as a martyr-type mentor figure for Bourdain, as his active drug use, womanising behaviour and violent demeanour act as a warning while simultaneously being an inspiration. This cements the film as a coming-of-age drama, with a young Tony having to grapple with his own ideas of career grandeur as, with the help of Banderas’ training and mentorship, he embraces the heat of the kitchen.
Johnson creates a neat circular narrative that adds to the film’s watchable nature and enjoyment factor, as the story finishes with Bourdain beginning training at the C.I.A. (no, not the intelligence agency, but the Culinary Institute of America).
This is where the strangeness of the film kicks in, as it is hard for the audience at times to shake the feeling of discomfort that arises from knowing Bourdain’s tragic end, especially when he is played by Sessa with a real lust for life and eagerness to expand his horizons. It is a taste so bitter that it can jerk you out of the film.
4/5
IMAGE CREDIT: TMDB
