Tony – Movie Review
If the state of movie biopics was beginning to feel stale and formulaic over the last decade, it’s because watching a filmed version of someone’s Wikipedia page is as boring as it sounds. Chef, author, and TV personality Anthony Bourdain was many things, but he was never boring, and never deserved the formulaic biopic treatment. Which is one of the main reasons that filmmaker Matt Johnson’s take on the early years of Bourdain in Tony stands out, because it’s not just a cradle to grave story, it’s an encapsulation of someone’s spirit and an exploration of the formative years and people who made Bourdain the beloved character he was, condensed into one life-changing summer.
Set in 1975, the 19-year-old Bourdain goes by Tony (played by Dominic Sessa) and has aspirations to become a writer, interviewing for fellowships at various colleges. Loaded with teenage arrogance and confidence, Tony begins to announce to his family and crush, Nancy (Emilia Jones), that he all but has his place in the program locked in. But, his world comes crashing down when his dream is cut short, forcing Tony to follow through on the lies he had told and move to Provincetown, Massachusetts with no money, no friends, no job, and no fellowship.
It’s after a drunken altercation at a restaurant in Cape Cod called The Flagship where the owner and head chef (Antonio Banderas) takes pity on the lost soul, and takes Tony in as an apprentice, even offering his outdoor hammock as a bed. It’s at The Flagship where Tony is taken under the wing of “Chef”, and his ragtag kitchen staff, including Sal (Leo Woodall), Stavros (Stavros Halkias), and Tyrone (Michael Jibrin), leading to a formative summer for the teenager.
If you look back on Matt Johnson’s filmography, there is an inherently frenetic, high-intensity, documentary feeling engrained in his work. Where movies like The Dirties and Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie are in fact doco/found footage narratives, even his more traditionally narrative feature Blackberry is filmed in that frenetic style. Tony is a departure from that style of filmmaking from Johnson, which not only works perfectly for the story, but also speaks to the spectrum of talent he holds as a director.
More like Johnson’s work though, Tony is very funny, consistently dishing out laughs and gags that fit within the context of the film. The boisterous, often very un-PC dynamic of The Flagship kitchen staff is hilariously energetic, with the characters firing off insults and jokes at a million miles an hour. There is also a lot of humour found within Sessa’s incredible facial reactions to the insanity that is occurring in the kitchen, and even just in Cape Cod itself, often portraying a massive feeling of “what the hell am I doing here?”
Tony is a hangout movie through and through. It’s a coming-of-age story set in the summertime of 1975, a moment where in a young adult’s life, time moves around you. Time feels eternal. You’re going to live forever and pursue every dream you have. And Johnson hones in on that atmosphere with incredibly patient direction, letting moments sit a little longer than normal or showing parts of Tony’s life that might seem mundane, but have so much formative substance underneath it. There is a world created in this story that just begs to be lived in and experienced. You want to hangout with Tony and “Chef” and the other characters, even if they are flawed and definitely at points immensely frustrating.
But even with that chilled, 1970s hangout vibe, the film never loses energy or feels like it drags, and that’s because the characters themselves are larger than life. Tony is an audacious young man, often spinning intricate lies and stories to make himself seem like he has his shit together a lot more than he has. And it’s within these stories where you can see the inner workings of a very intelligent, albeit arrogant, sometimes angry young man. It’s when “Chef” takes Tony in that the cracks start to show, and Sessa incredibly brings to life this feeling that there is a creative part of Tony that is desiring to be found, which is found in The Flagship kitchen, and through the cute, blossoming connection he pursues with Nancy. Through this arc, Sessa makes Tony such an interesting, relatable, and loveable character where you can see the beginnings of the man who would become Anthony Bourdain. In real time, you watch teenage angst and confusion turn into purpose, and it’s truly beautiful to watch.
Then you have the livewire that is Sal, who is a dangerous mix of boisterous charm and volatile behaviour, letting Leo Woodall once again prove that he is a phenomenal actor to keep an eye on as he meteorically rises through Hollywood. Even with a frantic energy and darker sense of humour, Woodall portrays the damaged and hurt aspects of Sal through these tired eyes, the ultimate window to this character’s soul. Many people can probably think back to when they were a teenager, and there was that slightly older, very influential person in their lives who you aspired to be, and Woodall balances that feeling with the volatility of Sal’s demons with precision and compassion.
But the heart of the film lies within “Chef” and Antonio Banderas’ heartfelt, moving portrayal of the man who gave Tony the direction he needed. It’s impossible to not be completely wrapped up in Banderas’ calm and caring demeanour, with a soft spoken, patient, mentor-like aura that is the secret weapon to take down Tony’s arrogant defences. The mentor-student trope movie trope has withstood the test of time, and the relationship between Tony and “Chef” is a pure example of how moving it can be.
Tony is a 1970s set and coded hangout, coming-of-age movie that feels directly ripped out of its era with brilliant technical and production design, but is brought to life by focusing in on the story of where a man’s spirit was born. Tony is not a traditional biopic, and it’s all the better for this decision, because it’s a far more moving ode to Anthony Bourdain by being the type of movie that allows you to live in his world for 100 minutes.
Tony is in Australian cinemas August 20
