If you know anything about food or restaurants, then you have probably heard of Anthony Bourdain. A world-renowned chef and author who wrote one of the best books about life working in a restaurant, with all the hardcore truths about being a chef. What many may not know is how he got his start and became an accidental chef of sorts. The film Tony tells the story of a young Anthony Bourdain who chases a girl all the way to Provincetown and accidentally ends up working in a restaurant. He’s a young college kid wanting to be a writer who ends up becoming a chef, and this is a great coming-of-age story about one of the world’s most famous chefs. It’s a sweet film that has a lot of humor and great performances that, if I can make an interesting comparison, feels like it’s the Almost Famous story but for a chef. Anthony Bourdain was one of the most interesting culinary personalities who became a pop culture icon through his show on CNN, Parts Unknown, where he fused his passion for storytelling and cooking.
Tony is one of my favorite movies of the year. Another hidden gem produced and made by A24, it’s an inspirational story about a wayward kid who finds his passion, and it is driven by the wonderful performance of Dominic Sessa, who plays the young Anthony Bourdain. But the other heart of this movie is through the wonderful performance of Antonio Banderas, who plays the chef mentor. Against the backdrop of the 1970s, we get a great soundtrack that helps tell this humorous story filled with a lot of heart. The story is about a young kid who loses his money and has no place to go, but ends up washing dishes in a restaurant to help pay for room and board, eventually graduating to cook it all while trying to romance a girl. Spoiler: the main female character played by Emilia Jones is Nancy, who does become his first wife. There’s so much to like about this film, not only from the great cooking scenes, but also from a great cast of wonderful characters. Antonio Banderas plays the angel to a young Anthony Bourdain while the character of Sal, played by Leo Woodall, plays the devil on his shoulders, each pulling him in different directions while he figures out what he’s going to do with life. This is the best part of the story. Going after the girl is great, but only second to a young kid trying to figure out life, hence the great coming-of-age story. However, the landscape itself serves as a wonderful character. Shot in the coastal town of Provincetown, it’s like jumping back in time to what the summer places used to be in the 70s and ‘80s, and instead of being a shark movie, it’s a coming-of-age story.
For me, I don’t have many complaints about this movie. It’s a great film. It tells a very deep and early part of Anthony Bourdain’s life. It gives us wonderful performances by the cast. This is a film we’re certainly going to be talking about during award season. I do not doubt that Dominic Sessa and Antonio Banderas will both be nominated for major awards. This is one of Antonio’s best performances in a very long time. He’s been great in other movies. He was a great foil in Nicole Kidman’s Babygirl, playing her husband who got cheated on. But I think this is his sweetest and most tender performance in many decades. My biggest complaint is what I like about great stories: I want to know more. They do a great job of condensing this one story into a less than 2-hour movie, but there’s so much more to Anthony Bourdain that I feel like a lot was left out, and me being curious, I want to know more. This film will make you want to know more about Bourdain’s life. If you’ve never read his book, it will certainly make you want to get a copy. This story could certainly have been a series on a streaming channel, but the film version gives us exactly what we need to root for the main characters and tell this wonderful story. It is shot very well, and the beach scenes are the best, especially the ones at night when they’re having to catch fish, or they’re cooking on a bonfire.
I also want to give a shout-out to Leo Woodall, who has turned into one of my favorite actors and who was in my other favorite movie of the year, Tuner. He plays more of a villain in this movie; as I said, he’s like Anthony’s devil on the shoulder, getting him into trouble, but his performance is great. Even if you’re not an Anthony Bourdain fan, this movie will make you one in a heartbeat. It’ll make you want to know more about him and his life. And if I may say so, you can’t be a good coming-of-age story that deals with finding your passion, finding love, against the backdrop of a summer town with great music. Dominic Sessa is going to win an Oscar one day, whether it’s for this film or not; he certainly deserves the nomination, and at this point I am rooting for Antonio Banderas to get an Oscar because this is been my favorite movie of his since Zorro. Final verdict, go see Tony. It’s worth seeing in the theaters, and it’s even a great date movie! It’s one of the best movies of 2026. It’s nerd Approved!
