Tony Review: Intimate and Stylized Story Struggles to Hash Out Characters

Hyper-comedy director Matt Johnson (Blackberry) returns with Tony, a creative biopic about famous chef Anthony Bourdain.

Synopsis:

"A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life."

Cast:

Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, Stavros Halkias

Release Date:

In Theaters Now

Intimate On-Location Storytelling

Credit: A24 via AP

My favorite part of this film was the way they really made the story feel contained and intimate. What I mean by that is that the film is very much rooted in its location, with the main character moving there in a complicated time in his life. We see the rest of the runtime take place here, and all the supporting cast are already rooted in Provincetown, so I really appreciated the angle they took with that. If you love a good small-town summer getaway, all these elements will absolutely hit home with you. Just generally as well, anyone who's ever felt lost in their life and wanted to make a crazy decision, this plot leans into that with someone who actually does it. We get a quick glimpse at his home life at the beginning, which quickly leads him to basically sever all contact until later on. It's a huge leap of faith and it doesn't feel ridiculous because they do a really great job at promoting the location.

This also comes into play with the way it was shot. All the kitchen scenes are filmed in a way that really make you feel like you are a part of this story. This is felt in the tense scenes, which reminded me very much of the earlier seasons of The Bear, but also in times where things are calmed down. There's many scenes of Sessa and Banderas just talking over some sort of dish, which really gives you a close look at the art of cooking. It's not as straightforward an endorsement of the craft as you may expect going into it, but by the end it paints a really great picture and it's a very sweet bit of storytelling.

Great Character Bonds

Credit: A24

Tony encounters a large cast of characters when he arrives to Provincetown, but none of them are as impactful as Antonio Banderas' role. All the best examples of those intimate scenes I was discussing before? Those would come between Sessa and Banderas, who form a very unlikely bond for a lot of this film. Both of them are at completely different points in their life, but they somehow each have something to provide for the other. To be frank I wasn't fully sold on how they played this out, which I'll discuss later, but it does allow for some really great scenes. Johnson really puts a lot of faith in his actors here, as there are plenty of very quiet moments between the two of them even early on in this film. Their bond was a real standout, especially early on, and makes this one worth the price of admission.

Again I wasn't sold on the direction they took their arc, but I found myself enjoying the romance between Sessa and Emilia Jones' characters a lot. It's another example of that blind leap of faith I was mentioning earlier, as Sessa basically decides to change his entire life for a girl that he met one time in a bar. We then see their budding love go through many twists and turns, including the fact that she already has another guy in her life by the time Tony shows up to Provincetown. I did appreciate the slow burn a lot though, and the fact that they are clearly perfect for each other but neither really realizes it yet. It really does feel like a coming-of-age relationship that I think a lot of people currently around Tony's age will relate to.

Character Arcs Never Flow Perfectly

Credit: A24

Unfortunately I think Tony becomes another case of a movie where there is a really great character study in there, but these just might not have been the right people to do it. We have to start with the main character in Tony himself, which is something where in the first 30-45 minutes I really felt like I knew what they were trying to get across. It's a coming-of-age story with somebody who really needs to find some kind of purpose, and it appears cooking will be that. But this arc is never really fulfilled at all, which makes his choices towards the end make no actual sense outside of a knowledge of the real life man. Tony's emotions don't change at all throughout the movie and I feel like he was the same character at the end as he was from minute one. This is partly due to the bland writing on the page, but also a non-convincing performance from Sessa (someone who I do typically like, but may not be a leading man). His last scene in Provincetown is portrayed as this awakening for him as a character, but again, it doesn't feel any different than what we saw from him when he first joined the kitchen. He doesn't really have an arc, there's just a beginning and end that don't feel like a natural journey at all.

There's even the arcs of some of the supporting characters where I thought the writing could have been stronger. Leo Woodall puts in a solid performance, but his character just feels like a plot device where no actual storytelling takes place. They make him such an impactful character early on, at least with screen time alone, but we never get deep into his issues. Obviously he's not the main character, but I felt his journey could have been a really good reflection to Tony of what can happen if he really falls off the deep end. As I said earlier I loved the bond with Banderas and Jones' characters, but neither is really realized to its full potential. The final scene with them really didn't hit for me, and it feels like the characters somehow forget everything that had happened just days before. Maybe there was meant to be some kind of subtle storytelling here, but I just didn't like it one bit.

Over-Stylized Tone Leads To Rough Humor

Credit: A24

I want to say before I get into this part that I have never seen one of Johnson's films before and I've heard that this is exactly the style he uses in his other projects. Obviously I can't speak to that, but I just cannot see how that style works within this story. There's a lot of really darker elements early on, especially with the drug use and some of the language everyone uses. That is fine, really, but the movie never really establishes what tone they want to come across with these moments. It's halfway between a comedy and something serious, which I think really hurt both sides of that spectrum. The movie wasn't very funny generally and in all the serious moments you can't tell if you are supposed to laugh or cry. There clearly was a lot of moments where they were teeing you up for a big laugh, but my theater was pretty much silent for most of it. Again, if that's the style not hitting with me, that's fine - but I just don't think that style was the correct choice for a project/story like this.

Final Thoughts

I could maybe be convinced to go lower or higher ratings wise for Tony, but I think I enjoyed it too much to go much lower. I really enjoyed the intimate direction and relationships, but the writing in many points doesn't allow that to reach its full potential. I think the worries about this not being a story worth telling can be put to rest, but sadly it becomes a case of somewhat wasted potential.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Tony is Ranked 36th out of the 60 new releases that I've seen this year.

Editor's Note: I've only included the top 20 from my 2026 new releases list, for editing purposes.

2026 Ranked:

Follow Alex on Letterboxd!