When you think about the world of food and travel, there is perhaps no other name as synonymous and revered as the iconic, the legendary… Adam Richman. But today we’re gonna be talking about one of those other guys, Anthony Bourdain. I’ve been a big fan of the chef, author and travel host for many years now, was gutted by his untimely passing, and was admittedly pretty skeptical when I heard a biopic was in the works for the man. It seems like one of those things Bourdain himself would absolutely hate. His work was always about the people, the sights and the food with himself really only being the vicarious guide. But then I saw Matt Johnson was attached, and I said: “okay.”

Johnson tackled something very similarly with 2023’s criminally underseen Blackberry, which also takes real people and events and dramatizes it in a way that was honestly super captivating. Then I heard Dominic Sessa was going to be starring as Bourdain, and I thought: “alright, we might be cooking”. Sessa is one to watch after an impressive breakout performance in The Holdovers. I haven’t seen that third Now You See Me movie, but I’d probably assume he’s good in that too. So mix all those ingredients together and you get Tony, a movie that’s kinda a biopic, and kinda not.

Tony actually does a great job at mostly dodging the tendency to mystify and paint its subject as a god amongst men like so many other biopics do. We see glimpses of the man Bourdain might become, and yet the film does everything it can to ground him, emphasizing his fallibility as well as his tenacity. This is probably the best approach you take for a Bourdain film, as the film ultimately chooses to focus on just one brief summer in his life that means everything despite its brevity. But, to do that, the film does have to slide into some fairly common biopic tropes that do sand down the edges of this thing, even if they feel like intentional parody at times. But maybe it’s for the best, because we end up getting a surprisingly cozy and down to earth film that will have you cutting your hand open trying to shuck an oyster afterwards.

Dominic Sessa is kind of the guy. The dude has so much screen presence, but not in the more conventional, modern, throw this guy of a green screen kinda way. I’m talking, like, old Hollywood kind of presence. Sessa is tall, lanky, awkward, and carries himself with a bit of a hunch yet a stride in his step. He practically eats up every frame he’s in without really doing anything, and that’s something you can’t always teach. Luckily, this film benefits him by letting him play to his strengths. He’s not trying to do a Bourdain impression, and I think the film is all the better for it. But what he does capture is that self agonizing self loathing mixed with unbridled self confidence that emanated off of Bourdain’s work, without being too obvious about it. The kid’s a star, and I think this film is even more proof.

The supporting cast are also very solid performances, even if I do have some issues with how they’re written. Antonio Banderas is essentially the gruff, Mr. Miyagi type that ultimately sees the good in Tony and is willing to give him a chance. There’s a bit more layers to him, but the film doesn’t really peel them back, which is fine because I think that would just stereotype this kind of character further. Stavros Halkias is playing Stavros Halkias, and honestly, that’s all I really need from him. Leo Woodall I wasn’t really familiar with, but his self destructive chef Sal was highly entertaining and erratic, painting the picture of what Bourdain could have become if he continued down the path of arrogance. And the rest of the prominent characters are, honestly, a bit of a letdown when it comes to their characterization. Emilia Jones plays Tony’s love interest, Nancy, who he pines after by essentially building a lie on top of another lie over and over again. Which is great, don’t get me wrong. Or at least it could have been if the film didn’t take her in the direction that it did. No spoilers, but where they take this character ultimately left a bad taste in my mouth, feeling like it walked back everything the film was working towards.

But while there’s plenty of drama, ups and downs, and shucking about, the film is also kinda relaxing. Not in a way where you ever feel like you can completely drop your guard, but that beachside setting of Provincetown, Massachusetts is so inviting that it almost makes me forget I’d sizzle into a heap if I stepped outside nowadays. There’s a real laid back nature to this, like a kickback with friends and a bonfire on the beach. That’s kind of par for the course of these coming of age films, but it’s also really easy to make these moments feel overly artificial. Tony mostly circumvents that, feeling rather cliche at times, but when that Jay McCarrol score and that chill soundtrack kicks in, you can’t help but begin to form some parasocial relationships with the cast.

So this really is a mix of the usual biopic shenanigans and subversions of those films. The decision to make this about one summer in Bourdain’s life was definitely the right move, as you can honestly explain so much about a person based on these short moments in their lives, rather than showing the entirety of it. It makes it all feel far more personal and connective, rather than just watching a Wikipedia article come to life. That being said, a ton of this is embellished, as you would probably expect. It sucks that Banderas’ character wasn’t actually real and a lot of the dysfunction that occurred in his little restaurant didn’t really happen, but I think this can be forgiven because it’s more about authentically recreating Bourdain as he was in his youth. But those trademark biopic things really tend to stick out here, like an Anthony Bourdain name drop right before the credits roll, and even Chef telling him to go by Anthony like he’s Joseph Gordon Levitt at the end of The Dark Knight Rises. I’m kinda confused because, knowing Matt Johnson as a filmmaker, you’d think these would be thrown in in a pretty tongue and cheek way. That’s how they kind of felt in Blackberry, but in a more sly and comedic way. Here, they feel more genuine, and I can’t tell if these were moments inserted to add some levity or if the irony is just going way over my head. All in all, these don’t ruin the film at all; I guess I was just expecting the film to go even more off the beaten path.

Even still, this is far and away one of the more enjoyable biopics to come out in quite a while. Something that is actually interested in digging deeper into the subject’s character, ignoring a lot of the frills and pageantry that keeps them looking squeaky clean by the end. Sure, you may think it’s so devoid of Bourdain’s history and iconography that it could be about literally anyone, but I’d wager you’d be wrong. This does get to the heart of Bourdain; his ego, his hunt for meaning in the places you’d never think, and his journey from being a kid wanting to be talked about to someone worth talking about. Despite its clean cut appearance, there’s a scrappiness to it that does Bourdain justice and in a way I think he may actually have appreciated. Sometimes we’re just in need of a firm ass kicking to straighten you out. Is your 30s too late to have that happen? Asking for a friend.

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