When the trailer for the Anthony Bourdain biopic dropped initially the internet threw up its arms in rage. The movie looked, to many, the kind of boiler plate coming of age story that would enrage Bourdain. The father of counter culture food, dining, and travel would certainly never have green-lit such a saccharin story of summer time vibes! And perhaps there is truth in those concerns. It is difficult to prove as he is after all, no longer with us. It should be noted that his former colleague Laurie Woolever reacted to this response herself in an article for Bon Appetite. But in terms of my own concerns about the portrayal of a nineteen year old Anthony Bourdain; there were certainly more commercial and traditionally boring ways to go about this biopic, and I’m largely pleased where they landed.

The aptly titled Tony covers just barelty two chapters of the chef’s debut novel Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. Centering itself on a single summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts in which the young Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) spends his time learning the ins and outs of slaving away in a tiny galley kitchen, washing dishes, shucking oysters, and roasting lobsters. Given the limited nature of source material for the setting the movie is allowed the breathe freely, concerning itself with the “facts” Bourdain set out in his book at the same level the Disney Robin Hood (yes the one with the fox) is concerned about the facts surrounding its titular legend. This gives the movie the runway to convey the energy of a life not yet spent, the cast of characters we meet at the odd jobs we performed when we were younger, and the mistakes that get made before we fully mature.

The kitchen staff feel just as important to the story as Tony himself does. These sequences feel less like the stress levels of The Bear and more like hanging out with the cast of Jackass. Primary oyster shucker Sal (Leo Woodall) quickly becomes someone to look up to for Tony, and the other kitchen staff members Stavros (Stavros Halkias) and Tyrone (Michael Jibrin) come along to play second fiddle to Sal’s antics. The kitchen crew is lead by a man simply named “Chef” (Antonio Banderas) who plays more of an angel on the shoulder to Leo Woodall’s devil. The performances by these two, particularly that of Banderas are a part of what makes Tony feel so special. It’s not just a standard coming of age story, there’s real emotion being poured into this film, from the cast, to Matt Johnson’s direction, to filming on location in Provincetown.

There are issues to be sure. The conceit of Tony’s journey out to Provincetown is one centered around chasing after a girl, namely one who seems to want nothing to do with him. Nancy (Emilia Jones) is a classmate of his at Vassar College and loosely based off of Bourdain’s first wife. The character and performer have enough presence, and even through a lack of screen time Jones manages to pop a handful of times. Even through all that effort the character winds up feeling under written, and though the movie bends over backward to avoid the accusation, she does feel more like a piece of Tony’s character development than a character in her own right.

But the energy of youthful summers, and centering a bio pic not around a person, but a feeling, garners Tony plenty of street cred. Director Johnson is able to bring his own energy to the picture, yet another in his series of films about young men bent on achieving great things in the face of everyone telling them they can’t. Tony is perhaps heavy handed when it comes to dealing with the minutia of Bourdain’s life, fame, and trials, but when it’s just about working in a greasy kitchen, screaming obsenities and your coworkers? That’s where the real magic of the picture lies.

4/5