My Review of Tony (2026)

 

Written by Matt Johnson And Matthew Miller And Todd Bartels And Lou Howe

Directed by Matt Johnson 

Tony: "You know I can cook too."

Okay, I've watched enough horror, spies and axe murderers this week, so I thought I'd opt for something different. You know, a biopic on a recently deceased chef with a promising actor from an Oscar nominated movie in the lead role.

Yup, I'm talking about this take on the celebrated Anthony "Tony" Bourdain with Dominic Sessa in the lead role. This film would cover a small portion into Bourdain's life. Think of it as an origin story of sorts.

The portion being Bordain wanting to be a writer and applying to a writing fellowship in New York City. This was something he had no problem using in trying to impress a girl named Nancy (Emilia Jones) with mixed results. His own parents on the other hand - Pierre (Rich Sommer) and Gladys (Dagmara Domińczyk) were a bit trickier to get around.

Anyways, Tony didn't get the fellowship, so he got blind drunk, got mugged and conveniently ended up in Provincetown where he "forgot" that Nancy also happened to be. Then he ended up in the 1970s version of The Bear while figuring his shit out and hooking up with Nancy. 

The movie did liven up a bit with characters like Chef José Vatel (Antonio Banderas) and restaurant workers such as Sal (Leo Woodall), Stavros (Stavros Halkias) and Mary (Monica Raymund). As characters, they're a mixed bag but they certainly do humble and challenge Bourdain within the film itself.

Things did move along as Anthony had a thing with Nancy that was built on lies while his writing aspirations also didn't waver. The end scene really did feel like it should've been the beginning of a more detailed look into the man's life.

- Originally this did start out as a Black List script before it was pitched to Matt Johnson.

- There's a cameo appearance from Eric Rupert, who appeared at the end.

- Standout music: Eric Burdon and War's Magic Mountain.

- Chronology: 1975 and 1979 in New York and Provincetown.

Tony made for an undercooked biopic on the late Anthony Bourdain. Dominic Sessa did give a commendable lead performance and there's fine support but not enough to make this risible.

Rating: 6 out of 10