Matt Johnson is having quite the year.
Coming off Nirvanna the Band the Show, which is probably the funniest movie I’ve seen all year, Johnson now takes a hard left turn with Tony, a much more complex and dramatic story about one of the most universally beloved figures of the last few decades: Anthony Bourdain.
Loosely inspired by Kitchen Confidential, Tony focuses on a small but important stretch of Bourdain’s young life. Although the movie takes place over the course of one summer, Johnson told us during the Q&A afterward that they essentially compressed about ten years of Bourdain’s life—from roughly 15 to 25—into that single summer. Bourdain actually worked at the restaurant depicted in the film for three years, but here, everything happens within this condensed period.
And honestly, the best thing I can say about Tony is that this movie could have been about a guy named Mark or Bob and it still would have been very, very good. The fact that it’s about Anthony Bourdain levels it up, but ultimately, I don’t even think that matters. This is just a fucking excellent movie.
Dominic Sessa stars as Bourdain, and after his incredible performance in The Holdovers, he once again proves that he’s one of the most exciting young actors working today. Sessa absolutely eats this role up. He captures Bourdain as a young man who is constantly fucking up, lying, making terrible decisions, drinking too much, doing cocaine, smoking cigarettes, and generally trying to figure out what the hell he wants to do with his life. You’re watching him and constantly thinking, “Dude, can you please stop making mistakes and get your shit together?”
And that’s exactly what makes the performance work.
At its heart, Tony is a coming-of-age story. It’s about self-discovery, finding your passions, making mistakes, finding your people, trying to fit in, masking your problems, and figuring out who you want to become. Bourdain travels to Providence to be with his first love, Nancy, played by Emilia Jones, while pretending he has received a fellowship to write a book. He’s already buried himself in lies before he even arrives.
After a disastrous night at a restaurant, he finds himself working in the kitchen of a restaurant owned by Antonio Banderas’ character, a master chef who takes Bourdain under his wing. Bourdain sleeps outside in a hammock and is routinely woken up by his boss throwing water in his face. Eventually, though, the two develop a genuine relationship. Banderas sees something in this kid that seemingly nobody else does. He sees potential.
And Banderas is fucking terrific.
There’s a calmness to his performance that the movie desperately needs. Bourdain is basically a bull in a china shop, and he’s surrounded by characters like Leo Woodall’s Sal, a womanizer, drug abuser, alcoholic and all-around terrible influence. Bourdain is constantly caught between trying to be a good person and getting sucked into the lifestyle of the people around him. Banderas becomes the calm force of nature who brings him back down to earth.
He teaches Bourdain how to cook, gives him books, teaches him the fundamentals, and, more importantly, teaches him about life. There’s almost a fatherly quality to the relationship, and Banderas brings such a wonderful warmth and patience to the role. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he starts getting some awards-season attention for this. He’s that good.
Leo Woodall also has the fucking juice. His Boston/Providence-area accent is incredible, and he brings so much energy to the film. His character is exactly the kind of person Bourdain should probably stay away from, which makes their relationship so compelling. Emilia Jones is also fantastic as Nancy, and she has great chemistry with Sessa. Stavros Halkias, who plays Stavros, provides some of the movie’s best comedic moments. He reminded me a lot of Matty Matheson in The Bear—the big guy in the kitchen who becomes the butt of a lot of jokes but also gives the kitchen a sense of warmth and personality.
And speaking of The Bear, there are definitely moments in Tony that capture that same chaotic kitchen energy. The yelling, the pressure, the food, the family meals, the camaraderie—it all feels familiar. But Tony also has something incredibly comforting about it. There’s something about a movie centered around food, family, a small town, summer, and someone trying to figure out who they are that just works.
The movie takes place around 1975, and Johnson and his cinematographer do a fantastic job capturing that period. Everything was shot on location, and knowing from the Q&A that they filmed the entire thing in less than a month makes the finished product even more impressive.
This is also a very different movie for Matt Johnson.
After BlackBerry and Nirvanna the Band the Show, Johnson is working in a different environment here. This is an A24 production made in the United States, and Johnson admitted that he didn’t have the same level of control that he had on his Canadian productions. It’s also much less documentarian than his previous films. But somehow, it still feels like a Matt Johnson movie.
That’s probably because Johnson knows how to make movies about people.
He told us that he and Dominic Sessa bonded while making this movie and that their relationship helped shape the script. You can feel that personal connection throughout the film. It never feels like Johnson is desperately trying to make sure you understand that this is an Anthony Bourdain biopic. He’s not constantly checking boxes or hitting you over the head with references to Bourdain’s legacy.
Instead, he tells a story about a young, incredibly flawed person trying to find himself.
That’s what separates Tony from so many biopics we’ve gotten recently, particularly the endless stream of musical biopics. Yes, this is a movie about Anthony Bourdain. But it doesn’t feel like it’s constantly screaming, “LOOK! THIS IS ANTHONY BOURDAIN!” It feels like a movie first.
And I think that’s exactly what makes it special.
Bourdain was such an important and beloved figure to so many people, and I think Johnson has crafted a really beautiful little love letter to him without ever laying it on too thick. By the end, Bourdain learns his lessons, gets his shit together, and eventually heads toward culinary school. We all know where his life goes from there. The journey is the part that matters.
And I genuinely think Anthony Bourdain would be proud of this movie.
The entire cast is terrific, the direction is fantastic, the cinematography looks great, and the music from Jay Carroll is another highlight. The needle drops are excellent, and the score fits the movie perfectly.
I’ve seen around 45 movies this year, and Tony is easily in my top 10.
Matt Johnson is now three-for-three for me, between BlackBerry, Nirvanna the Band the Show, and Tony. And with his upcoming Magic: The Gathering movie, he’s moving into a much bigger arena. After seeing what he can do with a story like this, I’m incredibly excited to see what happens when he gets that kind of opportunity.
Johnson is also just incredibly easy to root for. He’s personable, clearly loves being Canadian, and the fact that he literally left the set of his next movie to show up for this Q&A says a lot about the kind of filmmaker he is. There’s a genuine warmth to him that comes through in his movies.
He cares about his characters. He wants you to care about them, too.
And that might be the secret sauce.
Tony is one of the better movies I’ve seen this year because it doesn’t rely on Anthony Bourdain’s name to carry it. It’s a great movie about a messy young man trying to figure out who he is. The Bourdain connection only makes the experience richer.
Terrific performances. Great direction. Great music. Great atmosphere. Great food. Great people.
Tony is a winner.
Tony = 88/100
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