Movie review: Tony

Dominic Sessa as Bourdain in 'Tony'

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Cooking up an origin story: Tony (2026, director Matt Johnson)
Review by Connor McLaughlin

The film opens with the title card ripped straight from Chapter 2 of Kitchen Confidential, "I was—to be frank—a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, badly in need of a good ass-kicking."

This message is quickly realized when we are introduced to a cocky, fake-it-till-you-make-it, 19-year-old Anthony “Tony” Bourdain. As a student at Vassar College, he aspires to be a writer and applies for a writing fellowship in New York. He confidently tells everyone, including his family and his college crush Nancy Putkoski, he got it. He did not get it.

Aimless and embarrassed, he impulsively follows Nancy to Provincetown, Massachusetts for the summer. He has no money, no writing fellowship, and no plan - except to work at a local seafood restaurant, The Flagship, in exchange for a place to stay at the head chef/owner’s house. To make matters worse, Tony Bourdain has no restaurant experience either.

What follows is a delectable and briny bildungsroman that feels effortlessly charming and self-contained for a genre so overcooked. It would be an understatement to say that Anthony Bourdain holds a special place in the zeitgeist and perhaps only 'providence' could explain what he meant to the world at large. Thankfully, writer-director Matt Johnson can also explain it.

Coming straight off the success of this year’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Johnson withholds and strips down the usual chaotic tendencies of his previous work, but still he maintains an astute eye for character and tone. Johnson is not interested in telling the story of Bourdain becoming a maverick, the young Elvis of bad-boy chefs. or his mythos. Instead, the filmmaker treats this young lout as a practically complete unknown, whose mouthiness and angsty essence could be anybody’s.

As for casting Dominic Sessa: man, he is truly great. From the chain smoking to his frizzled look, reminiscent of a young Elliot Gould, Sessa continues to deliver dynamically interesting performances that seem to walk straight out of the 1970s. His role as Bourdain is not so dissimilar from his breakout role in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, but there are more than enough idiosyncrasies to differentiate the roles.

Emilia Jones as Nancy continues to impress with her versatility, as does Leo Woodall. However, the real heart and scene-stealer of the film is Antonio Banderas as the owner of The Flagship. His role as “Chef” is heartbreaking, hilarious, and never showy, but he reminds the audience why he's one of the most underrated actors working today.

In short, Tony is a chef’s kiss of a movie. The film’s structure is straightforward, satisfying fare. It's akin to a meal that you’ve had plenty of times before, but the recipe goes off script just enough to make you feel something truly special by the end... and, not least, hungry for some raw oysters.

Tony is playing in theaters across the city

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