Tony review: Dominic Sessa stars in charming, solid Anthony Bourdain biopic
Dominic Sessa captured everybody’s attention and hearts with his movie debut in 2023’s The Holdovers, and after a few follow-ups that failed to achieve much notice, his portrayal of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain in Tony is surely set to solidify him as a star.
Based on the early chapters of Bourdain’s 2000 memoir Kitchen Confidential, Tony shows us the beginnings of his culinary career during the summer of 1976. Telling his parents he won a writing fellowship, Bourdain follows a girl named Nancy (Emilia Jones) to Provincetown, Massachusetts for the summer. With no money and nowhere to stay, Bourdain gets a job working in the kitchen of a seafood restaurant run by Chef (Antonio Banderas). As they say, the rest is history.
I always appreciate a slice-of-life biopic rather than one that tries to cram in somebody’s entire life. But given what happens in the late Bourdain’s life, it’s surprising that this is the period that inspired a movie. It’s not boring, but you can imagine that his years in stressful New York kitchens, making his TV shows and his experience with drug abuse make for a more exciting story. Perhaps this is why Tony is sanctioned by Bourdain’s estate, because it doesn’t show any of the unsavoury things (except his entitled personality) and is a straightforward biopic.
Given that it is directed by Matt Johnson, who made recent films such as BlackBerry and Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, I was expecting something more idiosyncratic and humorous. This is funny at times, but it’s not as comedic, quirky or edgy as it could have been and it is much more straight and narrow than anticipated.
I knew very little about Bourdain going into this (I read more about him after), but you really don’t need to. This is a conventional coming-of-age tale that just so happens to be about him. Fans of Bourdain may be miffed that the film isn’t too loyal to the facts or the timeline or doesn’t offer more insight into his life. But at least by depicting him at 19, you’re not hung up on comparing Sessa to Bourdain and weighing up how much he looks or sounds like him.
Sessa is perfectly cast as Bourdain. He really has the 70s look (his hair is very similar to the chef’s back then) and he captures his spoiled brat energy well. He’s miserable, narcissistic, a compulsive liar and, to quote Bourdain himself, is “badly in need of a good ass-kicking”. Banderas is wise and nurturing as his temporary father figure and Leo Woodall returns to his White Lotus bad boy roots as Sal, a terrible role model. After a run of heartthrobs, it was interesting to see Woodall take a big swing as such a bad person, but I wasn’t entirely convinced by him.
Tony is a solid, enjoyable, comforting biopic – but I must admit I was expecting more.
In cinemas from Friday 14th August