RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from The A.V. Club — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 3 sources
It’s easy to imagine how Anthony Bourdain—the chef-turned-writer who became a TV personality and part-time philosopher, who led audiences to far-flung corners of the world and seedy New York City kitchens alike—would have hated a palatable biopic about his wayward youth. Both in prose and on the air, he never went long without a scathing self-deprecating comment, some wry observation that cut to the bone of a universal experience. He may have played the captain in the kitchen, in his books, and on TV, but he was never beyond reproach, and his smoky voice of experience was the first to knock himself off a pedestal. This is why, almost a decade after his death, his legacy still looms large, and his presence is sorely missed by many who still share his sharp political and culinary critiques on social media. In trying to understand the man behind the opinionated wordsmith, Matt Johnson revisits Bourdain’s origin story and pays tribute to all those still finding their way through the world.
Long before Bourdain penned his first New Yorker essay, Tony ( The Holdovers’ Dominic Sessa ) was a floundering college student, a potent combination of cocky and too-smart with a disdain for authority. After lying about landing a writing fellowship, a chance encounter with a fellow classmate, Nancy (Emilia Jones), changes his destination from New York City to the sleepy fishing village of Provincetown to win her over. At first, he’s met with disappointment, then disaster, but it lands Tony on the doorstep of a local chef (Antonio Banderas) who gives the young jerk a lesson in humility and a second chance, inducting him into the kitchen brotherhood where he learns what it takes to run his own restaurant.
The first few chapters of Bourdain’s breakout book Kitchen Confidential provide the basis for Johnson’s movie, homing in on the summer when Bourdain learned his first lessons in the kitchen, including a few bad habits. Johnson, who co-wrote the script with Todd Bartels, Lou Howe, and Matthew Miller, strikes a balance between Tony’s stubborn and petulant twentysomething angst, vulnerable moments of humiliation and redemption, and droll one-liners to lighten the mood. The filmmaker, who’s mostly known for comedies like Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie and BlackBerry , finds a relatively even tone for the script, keeping the drama intact without milking it too much for effect. One of the more dramatic storylines in the movie involves Tony’s mentor in the kitchen, Sal (a fiery, scene-stealing Leo Woodall). He becomes his cool older brother figure, the man about town who seems to have no trouble scoring with younger women and starting fights. But as Tony learns how to survive on the Cape, Sal’s facade fades in the daylight of reality, revealing that the New England bruiser is struggling even more than Tony.
Those familiar with Bourdain’s work can hear him in their heads when revisiting Kitchen Confidential , so it may take a moment to settle into Sessa’s performance. His voice can’t compare with one with years of wear and tear from barking out orders—the one many of us listened to for hours as Bourdain traipsed around the world. But it doesn’t have to. Sessa’s Tony sounds awkward, as if he were trying to sound older and wiser to impress the skeptics around him who just see a scrawny, smug brat. His doubters get to him, puncturing his macho act, revealing a sensitivity and introspection one wouldn’t find in a surface-level narcissist like Sal. In a similarly surface-level role, Jones’ sweet but stern Nancy is the focus of Tony’s attention, but she’s more of a fantasy, a crush to chase after when you don’t know what you want. Sessa’s version of Tony is here to be the student, not the tour guide. Those duties fall for a time to Woodall’s hot-tempered fuckboy, who encourages Tony’s more impulsive behaviors, and to Banderas’ chef, whose modest dreams are impossible for the restless, runaway Tony to understand. But the chef also teaches him discipline, to get up on time and pursue his culinary ambitions, the kind of direction Tony has spent the entire movie trying to find.
It would be easy to write Tony off as something Bourdain would despise on principle. But after the documentary Roadrunner ended on such a bitter note, using an AI-generated version of Bourdain’s voice and pointing fingers over who was to blame for his suicide, Tony returns, refreshingly, to the beginning of his story. It doesn’t do so to rewrite its end or try to make sense of his death, but to understand how a bookworm with delusions of grandeur landed in a kitchen that mostly served lobster rolls to tourists, and how those early meals with his kitchen comrades and mentors shaped his ambitions. It gets at the heart of Bourdain’s everyman appeal, the universal need for belonging and purpose, and the struggle to find your voice, both as a young adult and as a writer. Beyond its dutiful biopic services, Tony reminds its audience of the sharp turns and unlikely encounters that can change the course of our lives and give us stories to share over the dinner table.
Director: Matt Johnson
Writer: Matt Johnson, Todd Bartels, Lou Howe, Matthew Miller
Starring: Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, Leo Woodall, Emilia Jones, Stavros Halkias
Release Date: August 7, 2026
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.