The Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony, is a feel-good semi-coming of age movie that starts strong, but ultimately doesn’t give us much of a lesson at the end. It’s not really even a food movie, in case that was your draw. It is a movie about a loser who becomes a little bit less of a loser.
All the Right Ingredients
I’m not really a biopic guy. Not really a cooking kind of guy. Not really even a guy. Not even just one. So believe me when I say, I wasn’t really hot on this movie. But I saw it for the sake of friendship. New friendship. Remember that guy from my review for The End of Oak Street?
I know you’re wondering, so let’s just get this out of the way: no, this movie will not make you as hungry as other food movies like The Menu, or Chef, or Burnt.
So anywho, Tony, an A24 flick, is a movie that covers only a chapter of Anthony Bourdain’s life, a chapter early on his life. A sort of origin story, y’know? And the movie sets itself up really well to be an origin-type movie. Tony, played by Dominic Sessa, is presented as a suave, cocky, easily offended, lying piece of shit. He’s super unlikeable. It’s awesome. He’s also super horny, so he stalks this girl all the way to Cape Cod, realizes she’s already in a relationship, gets drunk, gets his ass kicked, and lucks into being taken in by Antonio Banderas.
There’s a bit of mystery surrounding Banderas’ character, but like, not really? The mysterious, unnamed wise master who’s hiding in a dingy, dreary little pub kitchen? In an origin story for a legendary food guy? C’mon. While we’re talking about the obvious, it’s also pretty obvious that Tony’s lying and enjoyment of vices would need to be overcome to be a better version of himself. We even got a guy who Tony befriends who embodies all the stuff Tony wants to be: a cool, badass, lady-bedding rough and tumble cool guy.
Like Fine Wine
The whole coming of age trope only works if you follow a formula, y’know? Like, the protagonist gets what he needs, not he wants, once he embraces a part of himself he’s denying. Like, if Tony kept insisting he’s a writer, and lying about it, instead of admitting he likes cooking. Or, say, if Tony thinks his ability to lie and deceive people gets what he wants, but realizes he doesn’t want to turn into the badass tough guy who ends up being a drug-addled loose cannon with nothing going for him in his life. Or perhaps, a lesson that the mysterious chef learned, that cooking isn’t about some big fancy final dish, but just food that feeds a community for the love of the game.
The beats are all there. On paper, the movie works. Character moments, low points, redemption, regret, drama, comedy, sex. The cast was incredible, too. Sessa, Banderas, the love interest, Emilia Jones, and even the badass druggie, played by Leo Woodall- all were just balls to the wall fantastic.
It’s hard to tell exactly why this movie didn’t click for me from a ‘coming of age’ perspective. I think part of it was the overdramatization of the story. The ending was a culmination of the ‘perfectness’ this movie came together at the climax, where Tony solves three of his big issues all in one go. He tricks the badass druggie into helping him set up a big beach bake, his honesty wins over the girl, and his commitment to heartfelt cooking instead of flashy dishes wins back his mysterious chef mentor. Yay! Sunsets and smiles and everything is gonna be ok!
Like Milk
To set up that perfect ending, though, the movie had to fast track the plot beats. The badass loverboy gets ditched halfway into the movie, and that send off wasn’t super smooth. Tony didn’t choose to part ways, he just didn’t chase the guy once he realized how much of a strung-out junkie the womanizer was. Not an active choice.
Tony’s lie about being experienced in the kitchen leads to him tossing water on an oil fire, which then, y’know… leads to a thing. I will say, though, there’s a really great ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ reason why he has to throw water on the fire and not, say, use a fire extinguisher. That relationship is fractured by a relatively weak argument, and very unconvincing dialogue. The resolution? Beach bake, baby!
The lady love story climaxes right after he fucks up in the kitchen, and she decides that now, after a big fuckup, is the right time to fuck the guy. She strips naked (nope, sorry, no nudity), and Tony chooses that moment to reveal that he’d lied to her about literally everything. This particular scene really irked me. Love interest character gets naked, totally vulnerable, and in seeing this, Tony decides that he needs to be truthful, or he’s going to have turned into the badass who fucked a lot of ladies.
That moment, to me, was meant to be a scene of vulnerability. Even ignoring lady love’s totally random decision to get sexy right after she watches a building burn down, this didn’t work. Her vulnerability comes in her nakedness. Tony’s comes from him telling the truth and revealing that he’s a loser. What happens? Lady love covers up. I didn’t like that. In that moment, upon revealing themselves, it was only Tony who should have been ashamed of who he was, not her. She should have stood there, proud, vindicated, and infuriated. And Tony should have been feeling small and exposed.
Anyways, so all of this happens because the women in this movie are used as sex props or cliches. The mom character is a snippy, passive aggressive jerk. There’s a hot waitress who gives Tony the stinkeye the whole time (right up until the Beach Bake, where she forgives him) is revealed to be a total fucking LESBIAN. And Emilia Jones, the love interest, is literally just the female goal motivating the man protagonist.
Neat, huh?
Conclusion
I don’t really do biopics. Partly because you’ll get shit like Tony, where a real person’s life is embellished and exaggerated and narratively buttoned up to give us a neat 2-hour flick with a fun little ending. Partly because my morals and ethics are super strong and sound and I am hella upstanding and mentally sane. I don’t really care for famous peoples’ life stories or any of that nonsense. I’m not big on celebrity worship or forming even a little bit of a parasocial relationship with the people I see on TV or whatever.
I rated Tony
YMMV
I watched Tony in theaters with my brand new movie buddy who only uses Signal because he’s a lovely dork and not because he wants me to learn more about the flat earth. He’s a cool guy. He disagrees with my Batman take.
85scenes Reviews 
Leave a comment