Tony review

TONY: 

A RECIPE FOR A VERY HIGH-QUALITY MOVIE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

A24

Dominic Sessa in Tony

 

            A24 goes to the kitchen in their latest film, Tony, the new movie from director Matt Johnson (BlackBerry, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie), and a biopic on celebrity chef and author Anthony Bourdain. I should make this clear before I get started: I know nothing about the real-life Anthony Bourdain, so everything about this film is new territory for me. 

            I saw the trailer a few times, thought it looked good, and I’m always onboard to see Antonio Banderas (Desperado, Spy Kids franchise, Shrek franchise) in a movie, so, yeah, it’s pretty safe to assume that I would end up seeing this. I don’t know how this movie is sitting with those familiar with Antonio Bourdain; for me though, I fucking dug the Hell out of this film. 

            I thought this was a very solid and engaging movie that’s in equal parts funny and heartfelt, with outstanding performances by Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers, Tow, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t) and Banderas. It’s easily the most entertaining movie about cooking I’ve seen since The Menu, and thankfully, this one doesn’t end with a ritualistic sacrifice involving giants’moress. 

            The film follows 19-year-old college student Anthony “Tony” Bourdain (Sessa), who aspires to be a writer, is rejected for a writing fellowship, and thus has to find a job. An unnamed restaurant owner and Chef (Banderas) takes Tony in when he finds himself short on money to get home and hires him to work in the restaurant after he lies to Vatel about his experience in the kitchen while getting into all kinds of mischief with the other cooks and learning important lessons along the way. 

            The film also stars Emilia Jones (Horrible Histories, CODA, The Running Man (2025)) as Nancy, Dagmura Domińczyk (Succession, Bottoms, Priscilla) as Tony’s mother Gladys Sacksman Bourdain, Rich Sommer (The Devil Wears Prada, Hello, My Name Is Doris, BlackBerry) as Tony’s father Pierre Bourdain, Stavros Halkias (Let’s Start a Cult, Tires, Bugonia) as…well, Stavros, Leo Woodall (One Day, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Tuner) as Sal, and Monica Raymund (The Good Wife, Chicago Fire, Bros) as Mary. 

            Overall, Tony has all the ingredients to produce a delectable movie that’s entertaining to watch and makes you want to find out more about the real person. The film very early on mentions that the young Anthony Bourdain was kind of an asshole in his early days, and this film succeeds in the difficult task of making said asshole endearing thanks to good writing and direction and a phenomenal performance by Dominic Sesa, who just knocked it out of the park. 

            I was amazed by his breakthrough performance in The Holdovers, and Sesa continues showing off his skills here; he is electrifying as Tony, a man with a clear passion for food and his craftsmanship but is also struggling with his own personal demons. He does a great job flip-flopping between being incredibly charming and likable to bitter and troubled without the switch ever feeling spontaneous. 

            Antonio Banderas, though, is a scene-stealer as Chef, who is the heart and soul of the film, a man who cares for his food and his restaurants and asks for his employees to have the same amount of commitment and love as he does. Both he and Sesa have incredible chemistry, and it’s wonderful seeing them interact with each other whether in comedic, heartfelt, or dramatic ways. 

            Leo Woodall, hot off of Tune,r which I really enjoyed this year, is also amazing as Tony’s aggressive co-worker, Sal, al who could argue is a human embodiment of Tony’s darker side. Woodall’s Sal and Banderas’ Chef are almost like a yin and yang of Tony, and it’s not always clear what side he’s going to land on during a scene,e which I thought was a very clever way to utilize these two characters and actors. 

            Like I said at the beginning of the review, I have no idea how this movie will resonate with Anthony Bourdain aficionados since I knew absolutely nothing about him until after seeing the film. I personally found Tony to be a very captivating, tightly written, and at times heartfelt story about a lost man trying to make a name for himself and his successes coming in the most unexpected of places, with praise-worthy performances by its cast and sincere direction from Matt Johnson; it’s a delicious, delicately crafted feast of a film.