The Review: ‘Tony’ -A Messy, Funny and Surprisingly Tender Taste of Bourdain’s Beginnings

August 11, 2026

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featuring @a24

There is something inherently fascinating about watching the early years of someone who would go on to become a cultural icon. Tony takes that idea and applies it to Anthony Bourdain, focusing not on the celebrity chef and globetrotting storyteller most of us remember, but on the restless, arrogant and somewhat lost young man who had yet to figure out where his life was heading.

It’s a smart decision, because Tony isn’t really interested in delivering the conventional cradle-to-grave biopic. Instead, director Matt Johnson focuses on one formative summer in 1975, when a young Bourdain finds himself working in a restaurant kitchen in Provincetown. What begins almost as an aimless detour gradually becomes something much more significant, introducing him to the world that would ultimately shape his career.

I have become a big fan of Matt Johnson as a filmmaker, particularly after BlackBerry, which remains one of the most entertaining and sharply observed films of recent years. What I love about Johnson’s work is his ability to find humour and humanity in flawed, often difficult people without turning them into simple caricatures. That sensibility feels perfectly suited to Bourdain.

Tony certainly isn’t as relentlessly funny or as tightly constructed as BlackBerry, but it carries much of the same fascination with complicated personalities. Johnson doesn’t attempt to sanitise Bourdain or turn him into an inspirational saint. This is a young man who can be obnoxious, selfish, impulsive and downright frustrating, but there is also an undeniable charisma underneath it all.

Dominic Sessa is excellent in the lead role. Following his terrific breakout performance in The Holdovers, Sessa once again demonstrates that he can make an unlikeable character remarkably watchable. His portrayal captures Bourdain’s intelligence and confidence while also allowing his insecurity and immaturity to bubble beneath the surface. There is a sense that Tony hasn’t yet become the person he is supposed to be, and Sessa makes that uncertainty compelling.

The film’s greatest strength, however, may be its relationship with the restaurant kitchen. Rather than simply treating cooking as the mechanism through which Bourdain discovers his future career, Johnson makes the kitchen feel like a world unto itself — chaotic, exhausting, occasionally disgusting and yet strangely intoxicating. It’s a place where Tony begins to discover purpose, discipline and something resembling belonging.

Antonio Banderas also makes a strong impression as Chef, providing Tony with an understated but important mentor figure. Their relationship gives the film much of its emotional weight, particularly as Tony gradually begins to understand that there is more to working in a kitchen than simply throwing himself into the chaos.

What prevents Tony from reaching the heights of BlackBerry for me is that the film occasionally feels a little too comfortable in its coming-of-age framework.

There is also an interesting tension between wanting to see the Anthony Bourdain we know and understanding why Johnson deliberately keeps that version of him at arm’s length. This isn’t Parts Unknown Bourdain. This isn’t the legendary chef, author or television personality. He’s simply Tony — a young, troubled and occasionally obnoxious guy trying to work out what the hell he is doing with his life. And ultimately, that’s what makes the film work.

Tony doesn’t need to explain how a cultural icon was created. Instead, it gives us a snapshot of the person before the legend and allows us to recognise the beginnings of the personality that would eventually captivate millions.

It’s funny, scruffy, occasionally messy and surprisingly heartfelt, with another terrific performance from Dominic Sessa and a strong directorial hand from Matt Johnson. While I still prefer the precision and sheer comedic brilliance of BlackBerry, Tony further confirms Johnson as one of the more interesting filmmakers working today.