By Dan Skip Allen

Matt Johnson is a director who I first noticed when I saw his film “Blackberry” and later I saw “Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie” based on his popular Canadian show. I have even seen him in a film that he didn’t direct. He’s a guy that I haven’t always loved what he’s done, but when I heard he was doing an Anthony Bourdain biopic in a pretty much straightforward way, I was very much intrigued. Then I heard Dominic Sessa was playing this tragic man, and I was very excited. When I mean tragic, I mean he committed suicide a few years ago at the age of 61. So this film was going to be an interesting experience. 

Tony (Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers) is a young man who has just graduated from high school and is about to go into college in the fall. He tries for a writing fellowship at Vassar College. After not getting the fellowship, he lies to his family and goes to Provincetown, Cape Code, to follow a girl he likes Nancy (Emilia Jones, Coda) who went there for the summer. He ends up sleeping on a hammock, out back of a restaurant, after a night out of heavy drinking, which leads him to start working at the seafood restaurant, The Flagship, as a dishwasher. He ends up befriending one of the workers at the restaurant Sal (Leo Woodall, Tuner) and the owner Ciro (Antonio Banderas). They, in turn, teach him how to cook food there.

This film isn’t like a birth to death biopic like a lot of films are. It’s more in the vein of “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” which only deals with the time when Bruce Springsteen was writing and recording the songs for the “Nebraska” album. This movie takes place in one summer of this man’s life. He learns a lot about himself. How relationships work and how to be responsible in his life. He makes a lot of mistakes, which he is penalized for. As someone who wasn’t super familiar with this man, I learned a lot about him and where he was coming from as a young man. Johnson captured just enough to give me a very good look at where this man would go in his life after this.

As someone who has worked at multiple restaurants in my lifetime, I was fascinated by the whole inner workings of the restaurant. I used to go to Cape Code as a kid with my parents growing up. I even saw the Lobster Pot, which I went to as a child. This area specializes in lobsters, clams, fish and chips, and other seafood delicacies. This area is a vacation destination for many people in New England and the Northeast. I live in Florida now, and the seafood isn’t half as good here as it is there. The shucking class scenes were very informative to me. I really felt like I was in a working restaurant watching this movie. I desperately wanted to go get some lobster after watching this film.

Dominic Sessa is a young actor who came on the scene with his breakout role in “The Holdovers” where he was nominated for a BAFTA for his performance. He has a specific schtick about him where he is quick-witted and has a fast reaction to his co-actors in the films he has worked on. I’ve seen him a few times now on the big screen. He’s also very good in “Tow” , a film I saw earlier this year. Here, he uses what I’ve already said about him to his advantage as Anthony Bourdain. His characters in “The Holdovers” and “Tony” are very similar that way. I hope Bourdain was the way he was portrayed in the film by Sessa. This kind of mentality can be tiresome eventually, but it’s not yet for me. I love him in this biopic about the popular world-renowned chef.

Besides Sessa, the supporting cast of this movie is very good. Starting with Emilia Jones. I loved how she gave the Sessa character a lot of crap. One time, even calling him ugly. Jones has been doing great work ever since her breakout performance in “Coda”, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2022. Then there is Antonio Banderas, who is terrific as a mentor to the Sessa character. He felt like a real chef in this film, and I loved how he had rules and so forth at the restaurant. He was so good opposite Sessa in this movie. This is why he’s one of the best character actors alive today. Throw in Leo Woodall as another supporting character, and you have a fantastic supporting cast opposite Sessa. Johnson assembled a great cast here.

One of the things Johnson is known for is filming in a style where it looks like a specific period, and he does that here as well. There was a 70s graininess to the movie. Throw in the hairstyling and makeup as well as the costumes, sets, and so forth. I felt like I went back in time to this period in history. The cinematography was claustrophobic at times with a lot of closeups and random shots of things like a salt shaker. These closeups worked so well with the period look of the story. The look of the film went along perfectly with the vibe and story of this man’s life.

“Tony” is a biopic that focuses on a small period of Anthony Bourdain’s life. Johnson and Sessa and the rest of the cast brought this man’s life to the big screen in a very truthful way. I felt this man’s life in a way. Sessa became this famous man in a time when he wasn’t famous. All the restaurant stuff felt so real to me. I literally wanted to go out and get some lobster and / or fish and chips after watching this film. The world of Provincetown came to life from the beaches to the town itself. I wish I could go back there. This film made me feel this way about the food and location. I’m glad Johnson brought a biopic to life in a different way than most I’ve seen before. It’s a must-see for all foodies and people who may not have known about this man like I didn’t.

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