A Pivotal Summer in Provincetown
Matt Johnson’s film “Tony” opens in 1975, presenting Anthony Bourdain as a broke, insecure 19-year-old who arrives in Provincetown, Massachusetts, with little more than bravado. According to a review from com, Bourdain fails to secure a writing fellowship and instead pursues his high school crush Nancy, played by Emilia Jones, while bluffing his way into a job at The Flagship, a restaurant that would mark the start of his culinary career. The film draws on specific chapters of Bourdain’s memoir “Kitchen Confidential,” and opens with a quote from the book.
Dominic Sessa portrays Bourdain, with Leo Woodall as Sal and Antonio Banderas as head chef Ciro. The cast also includes Emilia Jones. The story follows Bourdain as he runs away from home, hoping to impress Nancy, and ends up cleaning dishes at Ciro’s seafood joint, where he learns his first lessons in the kitchen, as detailed in a review from Mashable.
The film captures the atmosphere of Cape Cod in the 1970s, featuring locations such as The Lobster Pot, Spiritus Pizza, and the Wellfleet Cinemas drive-in, as noted by com. Chef Eric Ripert, a longtime friend and collaborator who is co-owner of Le Bernardin, appears in a cameo at the end of the film. Ripert was the one who found Bourdain after his death by suicide in 2018.
An Unvarnished Portrait
Both reviews agree that “Tony” does not soften Bourdain’s personality. Mashable’s review states that the film “stays true to that bad-boy persona without sanitising or sensationalising it,” portraying Bourdain as pretentious, overbearing, and sometimes outright dishonest. The com review echoes this, describing Bourdain as impulsive and volatile, and notes that the film humanizes him by showing his flaws rather than making him more likable.
The film’s honesty, however, is also its limitation. Mashable writes that “there isn’t much beyond that to make Tony a compelling watch,” and that the film “seems unsure of where to go, falling back on familiar American coming-of-age tropes whenever it runs out of ideas.” The review gives the film 2 out of 5 stars. com’s review, while more sympathetic, also highlights the film’s bleakness and the sense of isolation that Bourdain experiences, framing his journey as one of self-discovery amid chaos.
A Limited Culinary Lens
Despite being a film about a future culinary icon, “Tony” does not delve deeply into the workings of the restaurant world. Mashable notes that the film “barely takes you behind the scenes of the culinary world that eventually made Bourdain a household name,” and cautions that viewers expecting The Bear-style kitchen madness will be disappointed. Instead, the film uses the kitchen as a backdrop for Bourdain’s personal turmoil, focusing on his emotional state rather than the craft of cooking.
Both reviews see the film as a coming-of-age story about a young man mistaking bravado for belonging, set against the backdrop of a freewheeling New England summer. The setting, with its nostalgic soundtrack and period details, is one of the film’s strengths, evoking a time and place that feels both romantic and harsh.
A Story That Leaves Viewers Wanting
The film ends with Ripert’s cameo, a poignant nod to the tragedy that would come decades later. But for both reviewers, the movie ultimately feels thin. Mashable’s review sums up the sense of dissapointment: “You walk out of the theatre wanting more.” com’s review, while more generous, also notes the film’s focus on Bourdain’s imperfections and the difficulity of his coming-of-age, concluding that the story is more about the young man’s vulnerabilities than about the chef he would become.
“Tony” is now playing in select theaters.