Tony Review: Matt Johnson Makes A Tasty Anthony Bourdain Biopic From Very Familiar Ingredients

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a precocious, talented, and arrogant young person thinks they have a way to coast through life, only to discover that the world is infinitely more nuanced than they initially thought, and maturity is a virtue. In a general sense, I've just described the coming of age story, also known in literary circles as a Bildungsroman. "Tony," the biopic about the late celebrity chef and raconteur Anthony Bourdain, sees director/co-writer Matt Johnson put a hat on a hat on itself. Not only does the 19-year-old Tony (Dominic Sessa) believe his path to wealth, success, and fame is writing a Bildungsroman of his own as part of a scholarship, he also keeps mispronouncing it as "Buildings Roman." To make this on-the-nose bit of self-awareness complete, Tony's mother, Gladys (Dagmara Domińczyk), eloquently explains to her son just what a Bildungsroman is over the dinner table.

That's how "Tony" begins, and if it sounds worryingly insincere, fret not. Johnson isn't trying to poke fun at his own movie or its genre. Instead, the director of the recent "Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie," who makes no bones about giving his unfiltered opinions on various films (including his own), seems to want to show off his knowledge in a manner not all that different from his protagonist. This, of course, is what makes Johnson rather perfect to tell the story of a young Bourdain undergoing his own growing pains. As the Bildungsroman reference indicates, there's nothing groundbreaking about "Tony," as it's made up of familiar literary and cinematic ingredients, including Bourdain's own real life, of course. Yet, as with "BlackBerry," Johnson brings a winning, warts-and-all texture to the film, making it a recognizable yet tasty dish.

While Anthony Bourdain has a pre-existing, built-in fanbase who'd be interested in a film about him no matter what, "Tony" wouldn't work on any level if the actor cast to play Bourdain was a bad fit. Fortunately, Dominic Sessa provides the much-needed foundation for the character and the movie, giving a performance which proves that his breakout in "The Holdovers" was no fluke. Most impressive is the way Sessa refuses to throw on a lazy Bourdain impression and call it a day. In the same fashion that Matt Johnson's film is more of a character study than a cheap, lazy biopic, Sessa's Tony is more character than caricature. Sessa's primary take on Tony is one of bemusement, making him a guy who's constantly searching for something he can't define. That lack of definition fuels his frustration at the world and himself, as well as his ambition to keep the search alive.

It's a bold and potentially emotionally alienating choice, which is probably why Johnson surrounds Sessa's Tony with a supporting cast who absolutely nail their roles. Emilia Jones is suitably winsome and independent as Nancy, the girl who unwittingly lures Tony to Cape Cod. Antonio Banderas makes for a wonderfully no-nonsense paternal figure as the chef who Tony learns more than he bargained for from. Stavros Halkias is naturally hilarious as one of the kitchen staff. Yet it's Leo Woodall as another cook, Sal, who serves as the film's troubling role model for young Tony. Woodall carries himself like a dirtbag Steve McQueen, and he's so electric that it's not hard to understand why Tony would fall under his spell.

As clever as Matt Johnson and co-writers Matthew Miller, Todd Bartels, and Lou Howe are for their self-awareness about "Tony" being a Bildungsroman, it doesn't fully take the onus off the film's familiarity. Under normal circumstances, "Tony" would already be a fairly recognizable kind of story, despite its unique idiosyncrasies and such. However, in the wake of recent shows like "The Bear" and films like "Marty Supreme," there is a sense that Johnson's film is, to use a popular food-related phrase, reheated nachos. "Tony" may not be aiming at the culture of extreme anxiety and stress within the restaurant industry as "The Bear" is, but the film's subplots involving the seedy underbelly of Provincetown make it hew a little closer to the Christopher Storer show. In a similar manner, Tony's character being presented as an opportunistic manipulator for whom lying is as easy as breathing is highly reminiscent of last winter's "Marty Supreme," and that film's extremities make the more subtle "Tony" feel a little muted by comparison.

Although all that hurts the movie a bit, none of it is the fault of the film, really. Where "Tony" falls short is through its seeming lack of interest in reckoning with its titular subject's legacy. The film is, again, commendable for being a dramatized snapshot of Anthony Bourdain's life rather than a womb-to-tomb retelling, yet it also feels a little too removed from where Bourdain would go after the movie concludes. Even James Mangold's underrated "A Complete Unknown" managed to subtextually weigh Bob Dylan's legacy against the couple years over which that movie takes place, while "Tony" and its look at Bourdain feels oddly too incomplete, even generic.

For better or worse, Matt Johnson's "Tony" is a movie that needs no prior knowledge of its subject to be fully understood and enjoyed. In a lot of ways, the film is less a microcosmic look at Anthony Bourdain, and more of an origin story; "Bourdain Begins," if you will. There's value in that, to be sure, and there's no denying that the film is a breezy, frequently hilarious, often touching and thoughtful watch. If you're a fan of Bourdain, this will probably count as one of the best biopics you've seen, as it treats the guy honestly, which is to say respectfully. If, however, you're like me and only have a passing familiarity with the man, you might be left wondering what all the fuss is about. Bourdain's estate was apparently heavily involved with the film, and while it's commendable that they didn't micromanage the depiction of Tony as a character, the movie still feels a little stunted in its universality.

Still, that flaw is part and parcel of what's kind of beautiful about "Tony," too. After all, most biopics are not-so-secretly odes to their subject's greatness, and that subtext has disturbingly become text in the wake of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and this year's "Michael." "Tony" may not take the whole of Anthony Bourdain's life into context, but it doesn't seek to elevate him to godlike status, either. Instead, the Tony of the film is an Everyman, someone who is as charming, toxic, feeble, and ripe with potential for redemption and/or greatness as you or I. In that way, "Tony" really cooks.

/Film Rating: 7 out of 10

"Tony" is in select theaters on August 7, 2026, and expands nationwide on August 21st.