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Anthony Bourdain's West Virginia episode of "Parts Unknown" is a great piece of media for truly understanding our state. What Bourdain did for our state, Matt Johnson does for him in his new biopic, "Tony." The film opens with this quote from "Kitchen Confidential": "I was - to be frank - a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, badly in need of a good a**-kicking." The movie expands on these words by looking at 1975, when Tony spent the summer chasing a girl, working in a restaurant, and learning to become the man he would become.
When Tony (Dominic Sessa) gets turned down for a writing fellowship, he follows his crush, Nancy (Emilia Jones), to Provincetown, Massachusetts. With no plans and having lied to his parents about what he is doing for the summer, he rambles around P-Town, trying to meet up with Nancy at parties he isn’t invited to. After one late night, he winds up on the hammock of a local chef (Antonio Banderas), who invites him to wash dishes at his restaurant to pay for his space on his deck. While there, Tony is torn between a genuine love of food and a growing love of cocaine, as introduced by his co-worker, Sal (Leo Woodall).
So many biopics are unwilling to grapple with the complexities of their subjects, but "Tony" takes Bourdain's own words to heart as its thesis statement and is unafraid of showing him in a less-than-flattering light for most of the movie. Even as it bends the story into something a bit more cinematic, the underlying idea that young Anthony, who just wants to be called Tony, is someone who needs this summer to discover who he is and how he can become that person.
The film balances the chaos of Tony and Sal with the calm and commanding presence of Chef, and the three men play these roles with so much passion. Watching them on screen can be incredibly tense, but there are moments of respite that keep the movie from feeling overwhelming. These performers make these characters feel real and lived-in.
"Tony" is also a beautiful movie to watch. Cinematographer Michael Bauman, a recent Oscar nominee for his work on "One Battle After Another," does an amazing job capturing both the claustrophobic feeling in the kitchen and the peace and expanse of the ocean. As a result, we are able to feel some of the tension that existed in Bourdain as he navigated that specific summer and the rest of his life.
Anthony Bourdain's story is a difficult one. Through his work, he introduced people to different cuisines and cultures from all over the world, sitting down to speak with anyone over a drink and food, but he also struggled with private demons that plagued him. Even though we know the end as we watch "Tony," it's hard not to feel hopeful that this young man will have an amazing life ahead of him. The truth is, regardless of the end, he absolutely did, and we are lucky to have been able to watch.
Alise Chaffins is a freelance and Tomatometer-approved film critic.