When director Matt Johnson announced that his next film would be a biopic about famed writer and chef Anthony Bourdain, it was a bit confusing. In the minds of Generation Z, Bourdain is a perfect example of a modern philosopher: a confident man with an ability to magically express every detail of his life with precision. Johnson’s body of work certainly doesn’t reflect that. Just a few months ago, he released “Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie,” a magical film about childish men doing everything they can to get a show at a local bar. All of his movies are about lovable losers who seem to inevitably fail in some capacity. But when the film’s tagline was revealed to be a quote from Bourdain’s memoir “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” everything clicked. Bourdain wrote, “I was — to be frank — a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, and badly in need of a good ass-kicking.” This is the very framework that makes “Tony” a fast-paced encapsulation of what it’s like to be young and delusional.
The story itself is a loosely true tale about the summer that Tony fell in love with the kitchen. It functions as a piece of folklore, making a creatively interesting movie that captures the general feeling of Bourdain’s youth over an accurate biography. Taking place in Provincetown, Massachusetts, the myth begins with a drunk and passed out Anthony Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) — who at the time refused to go by anything other than “Tony” — lying in a gutter with an empty wallet.
Tony is the encapsulation of that one insufferable kid in your English class: He’s pompous, quotes Latin and claims to be a literary genius. Failing to receive a summer writing fellowship that would’ve stamped him as a true, professional writer, he runs away from home. To avoid his parents for the summer and find shelter, he is taken under the wing of Chef, played lovingly by Antonio Banderas, who offers Tony a porch hammock to sleep on and a job at his small clam shack. Learning from Chef and his ragtag team of cooks, Bourdain’s vision of himself as a writer slowly melts away like butter in a pan. Here, the beauty of Johnson’s filmmaking shines through as we see Tony fail at his goal of becoming a writer but find acceptance with a group of lovable losers in the kitchen.
Dominic Sessa brings Anthony Bourdain to life as a bad-postured, quiet and dorky kid who shields himself with self-proclaimed confidence. Tony’s quiet and unassuming character leaves room for two over-the-top performances by Stavros Halkias and Leo Woodall. Together, the two portray experienced, rough-looking sous chefs who continuously spew some of the foulest phrases you will hear in a movie this year.
When the film pushes this high-paced kitchen culture mixed with locker-room talking charisma, it truly soars. It is moments like these when the boundaries of the biopic fade away and instead meet a beautiful coming-of-age film. Seeing a family sprout from this kitchen highlights the bliss of finally discovering your passion and adds a tender touch to the film. Seeing Tony go from getting decked in the face to shucking clams and creating Sunday specials shows a portrait that any young person lost in life can relate to, which is far more important than biographical facts about a man’s life we could already read about.
The film only stumbles when it tries too hard to live up to Anthony Bourdain’s persona and ignores what actually works in the context of the film. Some moments directly quote “Kitchen Confidential”; Tony talks oddly about the first time he ate a clam in France, and when referring to the culinary school Bourdain would one day attend, it almost sounds like a teaser for a sequel. But perhaps cringiest of all, in the film’s closing line, Tony proclaims himself “Anthony Bourdain,” which is the first time his full name is said in the film. The line is framed as if it’s something we didn’t already know, prompting an eye-roll as the lights come on. Maybe if these moments were better integrated into the script they wouldn’t feel like easter eggs from a different, much worse movie. Pulling apart Bourdain’s actual life is what makes the film so entertaining.
“Tony” is the perfect end to the summer movie cycle. However, its need to shoehorn biographical information keeps it from fully flourishing as a monument to one of our great modern thinkers. Still, it captures the rushing, never-ending feeling of joy that summer brings thanks to its wonderful cast and premise. Tony is proclaimed as someone “in need of a good ass-kicking,” and he certainly got one; it’s a whirlwind of a journey that settles into a warming coming-of-age film rather than a strict, boring biopic.
Daily Arts Writer Sam Brown can be reached at sbrownie@umich.edu.
