The urge to mythologize our heroes is so tempting. We wish to print the legend and have their lives fit into simple narratives, full of mentors and antagonists and such. But life doesn’t really work like that—it’s messy and complicated and there’s not always straight lines from moments of inspiration to the figures we eventually become. While “Tony” goes the preferable biopic route of looking at a specific moment in the subject’s life—rather than the expanse over many years and hitting all the various Wikipedia highlights—through its amalgamations and reductions, it’s far too cookie cutter for the messiness of Anthony Bourdain (and reality in general). Director/co-writer Matt Johnson delivers an entertaining film that portrays people as chaotic and difficult, but the narrative resolutions and shortcuts make it far too simplistic. “Tony” is a crowd-pleasing movie that has fun moments, funny bits, insightful drama, and more, but it’s hard not to feel the artifice detracts from the heart on display.
Tony Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) just finished his freshman year at Vassar College and applies for a fellowship to write the great American novel. When that falls apart, he instead hightails it to Provincetown, MA—the furthest point you can go in America before hitting Europe—in pursuit of his crush, Nancy (Emilia Jones), who is working there for the summer. Soon Tony finds himself without money or a place to live, but manages to get a job washing dishes at The Flagship restaurant for a chef (Antonio Banderas). Surrounded by various miscreants in the kitchen (Leo Woodall, Stavros Halkias, Michael Jibrin), Tony finds inspiration in the restaurant while convincing himself he’s still just a writer.
“Tony” is easily Johnson’s most conventional work to date. His other projects—“The Dirties,” “Operation Avalanche,” “Blackberry,” “Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie”—all bring with them odd elements and the unexpected. “Tony” basically unfolds the way you already think it will: it’s a formative summer in the life of Anthony Bourdain, with various triumphs and tribulations while circling around becoming the person so many of us (think we) know: a good chef, influential author, and famous figure in the world of cuisine and travel. It is based on the real summer in 1975 that Bourdain spent in Provincetown, but much of the characters and circumstances are folded in from disparate parts of Bourdain’s life, including well into his twenties. That amalgamation makes for a far more straightforward mythos than the bumpy road that Bourdain experienced. But there is still humanity and truth to be found, even in that oversimplification.
The cast is phenomenal across the board, with Sessa doing standout work in the titular role. His Bourdain isn’t the easiest person to root for; he’s an inveterate liar, overly egotistical, painfully awkward, frequently entitled brat but who also has dreams of something more, desperately wishes to be liked and respected, and has no idea where his place is in the world. The various angels and demons—Nancy and the kitchen staff—tempt him with experiences and emotions that pull him in different directions, ultimately moving towards that future figure that looms so large for us in the audience. There is genuine warmth (and conflict) between all of the characters, producing earned laughter and empathetic pain that makes “Tony” an easy watch. But perhaps it’s still too easy and should feature less familiar structures and tropes.
As shot by DP Michael Bauman, “Tony” looks amazing with the 1970s Cape Cod being captured beautifully and making for an inviting escape from the life Bourdain was living (and the world he would constantly seek out). The score (by Jay McCarrol) and soundtrack are era-appropriate without being too obvious or on the nose, while helping mark that adventurous feeling of leaving one’s ordinary life behind. And yet, even with all these elements firing well, it’s too pat a story that seeks to resolve (and foreshadow) too much of Bourdain’s life. It should be an uglier (figuratively, not literally) with less obvious resolutions to make it feel more authentic. Because while it is metaphorically accurate, by being based on all these various incidents in Bourdain’s life, and not historically true, that lack of messiness makes it feel too glossy and too neat, things that its subject matter often railed against.
“Tony” doesn’t make Anthony Bourdain out to be a mythological hero, spending time and energy to show all the ways he was as flawed as he was brilliant. But the overly familiar structure and breadcrumbs that lead to the future of Bourdain detract from the power of the story and make it feel like a false bit of PR. It’s an enjoyable movie in the moment and it will entertain most people while offering up enough difficulties to be seen as “true” to less-than-discerning audiences. But “Tony” ultimately feels like a missed opportunity to present something more unique and challenging that could produce even greater chances for discovery and engagement.
3 / 5 Stars
Directed by: Matt Johnson
Starring: Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, Stavros Halkias, Michael Jibrin, Monica Raymund
