Tony

Tony is based on a single summer in the life of author and chef Anthony Bourdain. Set in Provincetown, Massachusetts during the mid 1970s, Dominic Sessa plays the title character as a mix of deception, attitude, pluck and fear, wrapped up in a whole lot of false bravado and self doubt. Leo Woodall, so good earlier this year in Tuner, here plays what another character describes as a “sin eater” and someone that tempts Tony into behaviors with many negative outcomes. Antonio Banderas turns in yet another fine performance as the nameless chef that gives Bourdain a place to sleep and sets him on a new path.

Courtesy A24

As our story begins, Bourdain is trying to get to New York City, complicated by the fact he has missed out on a fellowship he has already told everyone he got. Instead, he follows a girl to Provincetown, despite there being no indication he really has a chance with her. As usual, complications ensue. This is not a comedy but a slow burn character tragedy. Here is a young man who cannot get out of his own way, despite his many fine qualities and gifts.

Director Matt Johnson shoots the film in a way that evokes without becoming a relic of its depicted era, straddling the fine line between nostalgia and reality. Colors, shadows and blocking all mean something here, with the editing increasing our understanding of character and place. And what a place. This Provincetown is somewhere you can understand why its residents and visitors hold it in high regard, and the restaurant in which Tony works becomes a small, very cozy affair. With much of the film set in the kitchen, it is a remarkably non-claustrophobic work.

Courtesy A24

The script, from Johnson along with Mathew Miller, Todd Bartels and Lou Howe, provides some nice touches and just enough depth of character to be satisfying. It avoids the complete drain of interest and sense of person that plagued 2025’s Deliver Me From Evil. There, the story of Bruce Springsteen was not allowed to feel natural and the flaws in its main character were something the film seemed to run from. Here, the film embraces the warts, much as Bourdain himself did in his own writing.

If the film has a flaw it is that we do not get as much setup as needed before dropping us into the meat of the story, though at the same time, that is one of the film’s strengths. It knows when to just get on with the business of telling this story. What is not a flaw is that the film will leave you wanting more. That, however, is not the intent. This is not an origin story, but it is, as Tony pitches to his professors, a bildungsroman.

Courtesy A24

Those who have seen The Bear will know much of how and where the restaurant scenes get their energy. Like that series, this film may make a viewer very hungry. It may just as often cause one the same level of embarrassment or discomfort that Tony feels. While the audience may know these events are merely representative of multiple summers worth of experiences, it does not lessen the final emotional impact of the film. It also helps that the film has a soundtrack of tunes which Bourdain mentioned were ones he loved. Certain complications, entirely fictional, can be forgiven again, in part, because this film is, as Tony states, a fictionalized version of real people and what might have happened. This is not straight biopic, and that heavily works in favor of the dramatic reality of the film. A very strong effort that has some nice turns and which will appeal greatly to those interested in food, tall tales, complicated human beings and Anthony Bourdain.

Tony is now playing in theaters.