Critic Reviews

Tony doesn’t give Tony too much growth by the end, but it does highlight some core values that Bourdain would express in his work as an adult: The pleasure of creation, the beauty of consumption, and the power of the unassuming and unexpected.

Matt Johnson creates a film that bridges the faux-doc jitteriness of his earlier work with the richness of classic one-perfect-summer cinema.

To me, one of the most pleasurable things in movies is that moment when you see an actor become a movie star. That’s what happens to Dominic Sessa in “Tony.” I don’t care if the film is a summer indie smash or not (though it deserves to be) — it shows you that Sessa has the goods.

A zesty, energetic biopic about a teenage Anthony Bourdain, Matt Johnson’s second film this year is an act of controlled chaos, tapping into the nostalgia of naïve youth while examining how creativity is born. Led by an incredible ensemble, its imperfect answers make for one of the finest and thorniest coming-of-age films in recent years. It’s a blast.

It’s the chemistry between Banderas and Sessa that makes this gentle, low-stakes story—a summer movie in which, for a refreshing change, no one is murdered or menaced by a supernatural threat—simmer along like a cauldron of chowder.

“Tony” remarkably manages to embrace and eschew the revisionist strain of “Great Man” biopics, which have attempted to work around cradle-to-grave formulas ripped from Wikipedia by homing in on an illustrative incident in the subject’s life. Knowing there’s more cake is not necessary for the slice to fulfill its mandate to be sufficient and satisfying. It’s plenty sweet as is.

Matt Johnson, whose Blackberry flew impressively close to the Social Network sun in 2023, has once again taken true-story source material and made a real movie. It works on its own terms, with or without the halo of its subject's career. It's actually about something. And it's a delight to watch.

Director and co-writer Matt Johnson offers an unromantic, warts-and-all portrait, inviting viewers to wonder how close Bourdain got to potentially throwing his life away before becoming a celebrated chef and author.

It all adds up to a moving, charming, well-performed summer film told with an commendably light touch – a far cry better than a more traditional biographical film about Bourdain's life and career might have been.

Has a rough-around-the-edges charm that’s in keeping with its go-for-broke protagonist.