Film Review: ‘Tony’ is a Captivating Look at a Formative Summer in the Life of Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain holds a very special place in a lot of hearts. So, a narrative film about the man could easily be a potential minefield, ultimately resulting in folly. Instead, with Tony, what we have is a contemplative, curious, and unique coming of age story. Opting to make the Bourdain movie a portrait of an artist as a young man gives filmmaker Matt Johnson and company an interesting angle to tackle him with. Beginning with a quote from the man himself about that time in his life and going from there, this is probably the best narrative movie about Bourdain you’re likely to get. The quote? “I was – to be frank – a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, and badly in need of a good ass-kicking.” For about 100 minutes or so, we see just how true that is, and what good it would ultimately do him.

Tony is a captivating look at a formative summer in the life of a young Bourdain. At the same time, you don’t have to know anything about him in the slightest in order to enjoy this. In fact, I would not be surprised if Johnson would love if you went into this thinking it was just a work of fiction, about some guy named Tony who never existed. The flick works just as well for Bourdain die hards as it does for those who’ve never heard of him (somehow). In doing that, it succeeds in a way that may actually surprise you.

Set in 1975, a 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) wants nothing more than to be a writer. Up for a fellowship while at Vassar College, Tony is cocky and over-confidence about how he’s fated to pen the next great debut novel. Flirting with a fellow student in Nancy (Emilia Jones), we can see his charm, but also how he sure could use a good ass kicking. When he’s passed over for the fellowship shortly after heading home to suburban New Jersey, he decides on a whim to follow Nancy to Provincetown, under the guise of having gotten the fellowship. Seeing her kissing her coworker at a local pizzeria, he gets drunk, makes a fool of himself at the bar of the Lobster Pot, and is knocked out by kitchen staffer Sal (Leo Woodall). Stuck in Provincetown with no money and nowhere to go, h ends up begging the restaurant’s chef (Antonio Banderas) for a place to stay.

Allowed to crash on the porch of the Brazilian-born restaurateur, he begins working in his kitchen as a form of repayment. There, he begins to befriend Sal, interact with other staffers like Stavros (Stavros Halkias), and continues to try and woo Nancy. Tony also becomes fascinated with the workings of the kitchen, especially the chef’s ways, leading not just to some bonding, but also a curiosity about cooking that we know will eventually fuel him. Of course, there’s a darkness inside him that tends to make life difficult, but it’s not hard to see the man he’ll one day become.

Dominic Sessa continues to have an impressive start to his career with this interpretation of the formative summer in Anthony Bourdain’s young life. Finding the punk poet in progress here, he’s sometimes hard to like, but easy to love. It’s quite a strong turn. Leo Woodall gets to steal several scenes as a charismatic bad boy who represents, in some ways, who Tony wishes he could be. Woodall is having a blast when turning up the charm. The supporting highlight, even more so than Woodall, for me is Antonio Banderas, who makes his monk-like chef a source of endless fascination. A sequence where Bourdain gets him to add a higher end lobster dish to the menu as a special is a real joy, as you can see what it does for the both of them. I do wish Emilia Jones had more to do here. She’s very solid and she gives as good as she gets when sparring with Sessa, but more for the character to do would have been welcome. In addition to some nice comic relief in the kitchen from Stavros Halkias, supporting players here include Dagmara Dominczyk, Michael Jibrin, Monica Raymund, and Rich Sommer, plus a handful more.

Matt Johnson directs a screenplay he’s co-written with Todd Bartels, Lou Howe, and Matthew Miller. He brings a great bit of anarchy to the kitchen scenes and is clearly fascinated with what’s going on inside his protagonist’s head. Bartlels, Howe, Johnson, and Miller make the correct decision to never allude to the tragic end of Bourdain’s life, instead letting an audience member aware of his fate make whatever connections they choose to. Instead, Johnson and company seem fueled by that Bourdain quote from above that kicks things off, letting that be their ethos. While I adore Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, this actually resembles the more structured chaos of BlackBerry, which will come as an exciting prospect to anyone who loved that film. Well paced, the flick has the exact right tone for its subject.

Awards wise, Tony may end up in no-man’s land, in that it’s good enough to contend for Oscar but could fall through the cracks as the weather gets cold. If it can sustain, the film itself deserves consideration for Best Picture, as does Sessa in Best Actor, Banderas in Best Supporting Actor, and the writing in, presumably, Best Original Screenplay. Success or failure in this regard has no bearing upon the quality of the flick, which it has in spades, but this will be an interesting push from A24 during the fall and winter months.

Tony is among my favorite films of the year so far. Whether it will sustain on a top ten list throughout the rest of 2026 remains to be seen, but it gave me everything I wanted from a look at this part of Bourdain’s life. For many of his fans, that will be true as well. Again though, it’s not just for fans, as anyone interested in a top notch character study would do well to check this one out.

SCORE: ★★★1/2