FILM REVIEW – Tony

Sweet and Salty

I was never an Anthony Bourdain guy. No particular reason other than that cooking has never piqued my interest as, say, going to the movies does. Imagine my surprise, then, when the credits rolled on Matt Johnson’s (Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie) Tony and what I felt was not the small portrait of a man who would go on to become an American cultural legend, it was just…a conventional film. You could have taken the name Anthony Bourdain out of the film and replaced it with any other and it would have still produced the same outcome. This is a story about a man whom many believe re-defined food culture squeezed inside the structure of a film we have seen many times before.

That is not indicative of a bad film. It does call into question whether Anthony Bourdain would have liked this movie. Based on my limited knowledge, I do not think so. Should a film about someone be beloved by its own subject? Certainly not. Should it maybe respect that the subject did, in fact, live a human life? A hesitant yes. When Antonio Banderas’ Chef points out that an artist killed himself in front of a subject who did, in future fact, kill himself, is that respectful? I am really not sure, but it does happen here.

picture of dominic sessa as anthony bourdain in tony film — *Courtesy of A24*

Sad Boy, Interrupted

Tony (Dominic Sessa), at the beginning of this film, is very frustrating. He is so clearly angry with his own life, but unsure how to take it out on the world. He is a great liar, which leads him to convince others that he is in Provincetown, Massachusetts under the guise of a Fellowship from Vassar College. He is really there for a girl (a nice Emilia Jones). This is where the yellow flags go up on whether or not the film is going to romanticize being a “lovable” jerk. Luckily, Antonio Banderas is here to save the day. After an altercation at Chef’s bar, Tony finds himself at Chef’s house the following morning on a hammock. This will become Tony’s corner of Home for the summer.

The rest of the plot unfolds like a classic American coming-of-age story. Tony meets a rag tag bunch of chefs, among whom he learns who to gravitate towards and against (a notable Leo Woodall here, by the by). He eventually cracks the surface of his true self in the process. As a nice summer film that is digestible to a wider audience, this is great! As a film about an American figure with so much incisive cultural baggage, it dulls its own edges.

Location, Location, Location

Tony loves a good sunset. I do not blame the creative team, as Provincetown is such a great location. Some of the edits felt like they just needed to fill space, but overall the atmosphere felt very similar to The Holdovers. Calm and established, not worried about the ins and outs of its own people. (It is also a very big destination for LGBTQ+ individuals to live/traverse, which I wish was highlighted further). Lighting Head Chris Hill does a nice job emphasizing the town’s spaces, inviting while not warming us up too much.

Another Holdovers thought comes from lead Dominic Sessa. He nails a young man who knows he is destined for something. There is a harsh comfort in the way he says Tony/Anthony at both ends of the film. A quiet confidence seeps through his buffet of anger against the backdrop of the ocean. His characterization of Bourdain never falls into caricature just for caricature’s sake. There is real emotion, end of story.

I still am stuck on the decision to make this about Anthony Bourdain. The writers (Johnson, Matthew Miller, Todd Bartels, and Lou Howe) decide to make Bourdain an Everyman, and that feels limiting. They should feel lucky they have Banderas anchoring the role of Chef. He brings the parable completely to the ground and wrings out emotion left and right. His acting style mixed with Johnson’s playful directing is a very well-made pairing. The same can be said about the other actors for sure.

Again, though, still stuck on the “why”. There is a shot at the end of the film in which Tony looks in front of and behind him, clearly indicating a decision has to be made. The shot is set up so blatantly that it reads directly to us. Bourdain prided himself on looking for food in cultures off the contemporary path. This beat is written on a well-worn path. Is there even a path in his life that is not beaten already by our culture? Now that sounds like a path I would go down, cinematically speaking.