Tony (2026)
Directed by Matthew Johnson
[Rated R] 1hr 46min
Biography, Comedy/Drama
★★★½
“I ate these in France when I was a kid. I said they taste like the future.”
After lying to his parents about getting accepted to a prestigious writing fellowship, Anthony Bourdain (preferring the nickname Tony) travels to Cape Cod to find his crush who’s spending the summer there. Although things initially don’t go to plan, Tony ends up working at a small restaurant in order to have a place to stay, which results in him learning how to cook in a professional kitchen.
This is a very solid biographical film with great performances all around. Among the numerous biopics coming out lately, this one stands out as it doesn’t paint the most flattering picture of its subject. Rather than sanitizing some of the more unfavorable aspects of Tony’s early life, this film instead leans into them to showcase a more realistic and authentic depiction of the action person. As a result, the story and its themes become significantly stronger than a lot of other biopics. Despite this, however, the narrative itself isn’t particularly interesting, so the performances do most of the heavy lifting to make this an engaging film. Antonio Banderas is incredible in his role as Tony’s passionate mentor, and Dominic Sessa does a fantastic job at portraying an unlikable character while still making the audience want to see him succeed. Stavros Halkias is also a standout with his hilarious line deliveries that never fail to be amusing.
I recommend Tony to anyone interested in watching a grounded biopic about an important figure in modern cooking culture. Since this is a really well made film in general, even people like myself who aren’t particularly interested in that field can still appreciate the compelling qualities it possesses.
Tony is now playing in theaters. Click here to watch the Official Trailer.
– Review by Will Hopper