Tony

Starring: Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, Stavros Halkias, Rich Sommer, Dagmara Dominczyk

Director: Matt Johnson

After losing out on a writing fellowship at Vassar, Anthony “Tony” Bourdain (Sessa) heads to Provincetown for the summer to drown his sorrows and attempt to woo fellow classmate Nancy (Jones). Desperate for a place to stay, Tony agrees to work as a dishwasher in the kitchen of The Flagship in exchange for staying on the Head Chef's (Banderas) hammock. As the summer progresses, Tony soon bonds with his fellow chefs in the kitchen and starts down a self destructive path, courtesy of troublemaker Sal (Woodall). In between working and doing drugs, Tony does everything he can to pursue Nancy, which includes lying to her that the head chef of The Flagship is the main inspiration for a book he is writing. Tony soon discovers that what began as a means to survive may be his true passion.

Biopics to me are a tricky subject for a movie. While they are often very successful (depending on the subject), they often follow a predictable story line and are afraid to take any risks as to either not tarnish someone’s legacy or risk alienating the audience.

Tony doesn't shy away from showing the character's unappealing qualities. In fact the movie opens up with a quote by Bourdain himself basically saying he was a narcissistic asshole who needed to get his ass kicked. In this respect, Sessa shines. He brings an extreme likability as well as a frustrating arrogance to Bourdain that feels incredibly authentic. Anytime Tony made a questionable or bad decision, the audience I saw it with let out an audible groan.

Equally as important to Sessa's commanding lead performance is his relationship with Banderas' chef, who only gets a name in the final moments of the film. Their interactions drive home Tony's change in mentality and focus and lead him on the path towards the man we came to know. For a long time, I was wondering what Banderas saw in this role, as he mostly spends the movie watching silently or throwing buckets of water on Tony to wake him up. However, he gets several moments to shine as Tony takes to actively trying to make the menu at The Flagship better as well as during an unexpected tragedy late in the film. Banderas is a fine actor who sometimes doesn't get his due and he has all those qualities on display here. Its a subtle performance that really works in the film's favor.

While there is some strong character work on display, I do feel like the film felt like it was spinning its wheels for a long time. For a movie that clocks in at well under two hours, the movie felt like it abruptly hit the brakes and took a while to get things going again. There were definitely a few times where I checked my watch. Tony also doesn't embrace his future in cooking until very late into the movie. Given that the relationship between Bourdain and the head chef is the beating heart of the movie, I felt like it took too long to get there. I also would have loved to have seen more of Tony saving the menu of The Flagship than we got.

Also contributing to this is the fact that Nancy isn’t a fully developed character, let alone love interest. We don't really find that much out about her prior to everyone ending up in Provincetown or why Tony was so enamored with her. This leaves poor Emilia Jones with the most thankless role in the film. She's not bad in the movie at all, but I think that she really didn't need to be such a focus at times.

Far from the worst biopic I've ever seen (I'm looking at you Bohemian Rhapsody) and despite magnetic performances from Sessa and Banderas, pacing issues and an unnecessary romantic subplot keep this from escalating into the intimate character study it wants to be.

Grade: B