Anyone over the age of 25 probably knows who Anthony Bourdain is. Some know him as an author and chef who published Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, which revealed the dark side of the restaurant industry while he was working as the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles. Others know him as a television personality for his no-filter travel shows, such as A Cook’s Tour, No Reservations, and Parts Unknown. My personal introduction to him was through his television series, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, on the Travel Channel. Yet, for all of his fame and fortune, he was a quiet, self-destructive man who struggled with his mental health before taking his own life in 2018.
With such a legacy, it would be hard to figure out how to make a biopic about such a man. You could potentially do a compilation of the greatest hits of his life. You could focus on his years as a chef in New York City. You could focus on his life during his globetrotting era. However, Matt Johnson and his writing team decided to do something very different. They take a three-month period in Bourdain’s life and transform it into a slice-of-life, coming-of-age tale.
The key to Tony‘s success does not lie in the fact that it is a biopic about Anthony Bourdain. To be honest, if you removed Bourdain’s name from the film, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that it is a biopic. The key to Tony‘s success is that, at its heart, it is a coming-of-age story about finding your calling and passion.
When we are introduced to 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain, brilliantly played by Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers), he is as Bourdain described himself: “A spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive, and thoughtless young lout, and badly in need of a good ass-kicking.” He is, by all means, not a good person who bullshits his way into getting what he wants, and he doesn’t care about any of the consequences of his actions. However, when he fails to get a writing fellowship, he runs to Provincetown to chase his high school crush, Nancy (Emelia Jones, CODA). But after starting a bar fight, he finds himself broke and in the indentured servitude of a former master chef, known only as Chef, played with remarkable subtlety by Antonio Banderas (Babygirl).
His days slowly fade into one long routine in the beautiful Cape Cod. He starts his mornings by being woken up with a cold pail of water. He slowly wanders over to the restaurant, where he washes dishes until his hands are raw. He then spends the night drinking with his co-workers as they cause mischief around town. But as the weeks go by in a drunken haze, Chef eventually takes Tony under his wing, and together they ignite a passion for the culinary arts. They pore over countless cookbooks and create elaborate dishes worthy of a Michelin star.
Sure, by the end of the summer Tony is still an asshole, but he has clearly grown as a character. He realizes that there is more to life than chasing a girl, lying about getting a prestigious writing fellowship, and acting like a shmuck who gets his ass beaten. He finally learns that he is capable of doing the right thing and that he has a passion for the culinary arts beyond writing. .
Tony takes the larger-than-life story of Anthony Bourdain and distills it into a simple, intimate, yet surprisingly universal story about finding your passion. Rather than trying to summarize his entire life, Matt Johnson narrows his focus to one transformative summer and trusts his audience to connect the dots. It is a bold creative decision that pays off because instead of feeling like a checklist of Bourdain’s greatest hits, Tony feels deeply personal.
Johnson directs the film with a remarkable sense of intimacy and care. Allowing the quieter moments to carry just as much weight as the louder ones. One moment, Tony is leaning over a boat, watching fish dance beneath the water under the glow of a full moon in sheer awe alongside Chef and other fishermen hoping for a stellar catch. The next, he is thrown into the controlled chaos of the kitchen, scrambling to keep pace as orders come flying in from every direction. Johnson perfectly captures both sides of the culinary world. One side is tranquil as it is a place where passion and art collide into a beautiful melody. The other side is relentless as the chaotic rhythms of a professional kitchen are unforgiving. By the end, you understand that it is not one defining moment that changes Anthony Bourdain’s life, but the accumulation of countless small moments that slowly shape the person he will eventually become.
For a man whose life eventually spanned bestselling books, award-winning television, and global recognition, Tony reminds us that every extraordinary story begins somewhere ordinary. Matt Johnson resists the temptation to mythologize Anthony Bourdain and instead finds something far more compelling in the uncertainty of youth, the search for purpose, and the quiet moments that shape who we become. Whether you are a lifelong admirer of Bourdain or know almost nothing about him, Tony succeeds because it is ultimately less about the man himself and more about the universal experience of discovering the passion that gives your life meaning.
My Rating: A-
Tony comes to select theaters on August 7th and is in theaters nationwide on August 21st.
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