STORYLINE: A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain 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. (IMDb)

   Julia Child lit up the silver screen in 2009’s Julia and Julia.  Jon Favreau served up culinary delights in Chef (2014).  Pixar was serving  Ratatouille to film goers on 2007.  If you would like to sample something a little more niche, put the 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi,  on the cinematic menu.  The latest cinematic entrée for film, goers, is the Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony.

   Once upon a time, biopics covered the entire lifespan of their subject, or in some case subjects.  Audiences were treated to be full scope of a person’s life and/or legacy. The current trend is to focus on a snapshot of an individuals life.  Tony, is a snapshot, in the life of Anthony Bourdain.

  The film’s snapshot is a 19 year old  Bourdain, as he works a summer as a dishwasher. This is the spark, that sets him on his journey into culinary world.  

   The kitchen is filled with interesting characters.  The most interesting of these is the head chef, played by Antonio Banderas.  There is a bit of mystery, and a subtle personality that makes a character a fascinating one.  

   The thing about the characters in Tony is all the secondary characters are more interesting to watch, then the central character, Anthony Bourdain.  Throughout the film he is moody, abd self obsessed.  The act is repetitive, compared to the secondary characters, with more personality.

    Tony takes sometime to find its feet, as a movie.  Once it gets going it becomes an entertaining flick, that tries to be a bit more and doesn’t quite achieve that. 

   If you really want to see a film where you get tp know Anthony Bourdain, see the 2021 documentary Roadrunner: a film about Anthony Bourdain.  It’s a no holds back film, and much better feature. That’s not to say Tony is a bad movie, it’s just to say the documentary is better.

   In the end, Tony, is a mediocre biopic, that is a snapshot of an early portion of Anthony Bourdain’s life

    Until next time, I will see you at the movies!