Ep. 22: Tony Review | Anthony Bourdain Before the Legend

In Episode 22, we review Tony, Matt Johnson’s unconventional portrait of Anthony Bourdain starring Dominic Sessa and Antonio Banderas.

Instead of delivering a traditional rise-and-fall biopic, Johnson focuses on one unfinished summer in 1976, when a nineteen-year-old Bourdain arrived in Provincetown with no reputation, no clear direction and little idea of the person he would eventually become.

We discuss the film’s refusal to flatter its subject, Dominic Sessa’s loose and wounded performance, Antonio Banderas’ scene-stealing supporting turn, and the warm, handheld style that makes Tony feel more like an unpretentious seventies hangout movie than a prestige biopic.

By resisting the urge to explain the future icon, does Tony become something even more affecting: a coming-of-age story about a difficult young man finally beginning to find his footing?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

What's going on, guys? Welcome to another short episode of The Cinephile Mind. The three of us just got to go to an early screening of Tony about a month before it's meant to debut in theaters. This is now the third major project by up-and-coming director Matt Johnson, famous for his web series and movie Nirvana the Band, The Show. Now turned kind of into a, at this point, kind of a biopic director coming off of BlackBerry. But Tony is his return to the biopic. Obviously covering late famous chef and travel blogger, Anthony Bourdain, in the early years of his life, before he had even stepped foot in a kitchen before. What do you guys think? This is to me like just a really fun like 70s period piece. It's a really cozy movie. I had a lot of fun watching this.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Yeah, I mean, I kept describing it almost like a it was it reminded me of like a 2000s movie in like it was cute, but not like too intricate. You have great characters, great performances. Um little conflicts, little heartwarming bits, hour 40. It was just it's just one of those really pleasant screenings where like honestly you're you're seeing a chef find his passion for cooking. And I honestly ended up kind of inspired, like it just it felt like a um a nice way to um recognize Bourdain's life and career. Um so yeah, definitely we'll be watching it again.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Yeah, I think um I think we might have talked about this briefly before the movie started. Um, is uh at least one of my favorite types or approaches to biopics is just the more like vignette style where you get a sampling or slice of someone's life, and that can be obviously used to uh convey much greater meaning and um uh you know an insight into who those people are. And as someone who is familiar with Anthony Bourdain but has never read Kitchen Confidential, and I've maybe only watched some of Parts Unknown and some of his work on television, I didn't have the most insight into him. Um, probably more so around like his death and the the aftermath there, and obviously um just the greater influence that he's had in um other chefs and cooks' lives in the food world, um, and just in terms of the restaurant world itself. But I did enjoy this glimpse into his sort of early adulthood life and sort of the events that unfolded that actually got him onto the career path that he ended up taking. That part was totally unfamiliar to me. So, you know, how accurate or you know, detailed that is, I guess I can't say, but taking it for its word, I really liked it. I thought it did a great job of revealing who his character or who he was um as a person and yeah, some of his motivations and setting up some of the eventual maybe struggles and conflicts that he would face uh later in his life. Um, but it did so again with a lot of like heart and emotion, as Jack pointed out. It was like very sweet and endearing at times. So yeah, I I really enjoyed it overall.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

This is um I mean, obviously the only other biopic I've seen this year is obviously the Michael Jackson one. And I during our discussion about the mic about Michael, something I had said was that if you were to strip the Mike like the IP of Michael Jackson from this movie, it would be a total disaster. Like there's nothing that compelling going on as you as you're making like a story as a move and as a movie. And I really think if you stripped any of the Anthony Bourdain IP, if you want to call it, like um, from this movie, it is still just like a really solid coming-of-age movie. Um, yeah. Um Dominic Sessa's obviously in it, and there is like parallels to the Holdovers in in that way, kind of. It's just a a fun teenage coming of age movie.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Yeah, I thought Dominic Sessa knocked it out of the park. I mean, he's like uh and the Holdovers is probably one of my favorite movies, maybe ever, but certainly of the past decade. And you know, he just has that like usefulness and charm to him, but also uh he can give you that like sad look and downtrodden uh feel uh when when he's uh interacting with something on screen that is um you know conflicting or uh sort of uncertain. Um yeah, I mean he's he's phenomenal, and I'm excited to see what he continues to do, but certainly for this movie, yeah, it was phenomenal. And I totally agree. You could strip out the name Anthony Bourdain and any mention of that through this film, and it would still hold up because it was just really well timed and written and placed. The set and scenery and costuming and everything, it looked great. It wasn't really like boring and didn't really slog in any particular moments for me. I thought it was really solid overall.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Yeah, I mean, good sound, like good needle drops too, honestly. Yep. I mean, I think it's like it it also it felt like a movie where everyone had a good time making it, which I think can always I think that adds to like the enjoyableness of it. Um, and yeah, we're a pro-Matt Johnson podcast. I I think it's like I I just love how it's it's just earnest. Like, that's why I say 2000s. It's it's just kind of like it's pretty cut and dry. Like, again, not necessarily like innovative in writing per se, but I don't think it ever gets old. I'm getting redundant here, but yeah, just a sweet coming of age.

SPEAKER_03 5:53

It's just so hallmark of Matt Johnson at this point, like how his just absolute love for kind of these like 90s, 2000s era films. Zemechis and Spielberg. Like Zemechis, exactly. Yeah, like his love for kind of these films that are just like completely earnest um in their core, they're they're sweet and they have you know pretty simple messages and themes to them, but uh he just pulls it off so well. It's it's just like Jack said, it it feels like a like a 2000 movie, like it's it's got the same amount of heart that like a Jurassic Park does, honestly. The casting is insane, um, and the performances are insane. Antonio Banderas is like the linchpin of this movie as much as Dominic Sesse is. He's so good for someone who's I feel like he's just been absent from film for so long.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Um Yeah, I I'm I'm excited. Uh so he was in Baby Girl last year in that role. He was also very um easy to like emotionally connect and and like latch yourself onto. I mean, you know, through that movie I was also sympathizing with him quite a bit, and then in this one, you're just really getting glimpses of him as I and I have to assume he's also based on a real uh person uh in Anthony Bourdain's life. So, you know, just seeing that sort of formative time for Anthony Bourdain learning from this chef and kind of seeing his own challenges and then journey to getting to that point. I uh, you know, it was like phenomenal. And that scene where they're on the beach after uh Anthony Bourdain had caught his restaurant on fire, and uh, you know, they're kind of reckoning with all of that. I mean, that was like really one of the heavy-hitting moments of the film, and I just felt so bad for him at that point.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

I mean, it also honestly, at that point of the movie, it could have ended with them all jumping in the air and it freeze framing. Like that that is that's kind of the type of movie. And I would have still been like, oh, hell yeah. I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

No, I agree with that.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Yeah, it really we know I don't want to spoil the movie uh too much considering it's so far out, but um it does obviously try to make that connection to the broader Anthony Bourdain career after um to kind of like what would eventually lead to him writing Kitchen Confidential, but it it really didn't need to at all. Like um, it could have just ended uh right there uh um on the beach with everyone holding hands, and I really wouldn't have complained about that at all. It doesn't need to do that.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

And I think that's why when I mentioned earlier like the vignette aspect, like obviously, I think even still Anthony Bourdain is such a beloved figure um in people's lives, and also just brought a love and connection to food and culture to the masses that it would be hard to tell a story about his life in any other way than painting you know that that type of figure and person that he uh became and really what ultimately led him um down that path. So, I mean, I think it just checked all of those boxes of being uh endearing and sweet and truthful to his um like early adulthood life, and then also um not really glossing over any of the allusions to things that would eventually become conflicts for him. Um, it it handled, I think, all of those things gracefully, but also truthfully and with humor, and yeah, it it yeah, it was a great movie.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

Yeah, I mean it just speaks values to like the writing team on this movie that were like there is another version of this movie that exists that like starts at his funeral and like is flashing back or stuff like that, and like this entire 90-minute movie is maybe like a 20-minute segment before they start forcing you to go through like his entire career. And like just with this segment, which I think is only like a chapter in Pitching Confidential, um like you kind of just it just boils down like what made Anthony Bourdain such a cool dude. Like he believed that food was like a way to connect with people, and that's basically what the movie shows you the entire time is you know, learning about cooking is a way to learn about other people's cultures, it's a way to you know, breaking bread with people is a way to make friends and learn about people. Um, it's just such a celebration of cooking it in that way, in the cultural sense of what cooking did for him and how he tried to teach people later in his life with his shows how you can learn from people through food.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

I'm also um and it's funny because I'm just kind of connecting the dots on how literary this year is for film. I mean, obviously the Odyssey, uh this being inspired by chapters of Kinshi Confidential. We obviously have Dune coming up, the dog stars. There's a lot of there's a lot of things inspired and drawn from written media. So, you know, it's it's kind of cool to see that. Um and obviously, I think the other thing worth mentioning is um, you know, this like it's not necessarily new, but this wave of like biopics. Um, and I think you know, to a large degree, they can be kind of played out and boring. But again, I think that this one is my favorite flavor of biopic, where it's um just telling things in a sort of moment or or period of someone's life, and you know, we don't need to see everything from beginning to end. Um, we also need to like we don't need to gloss over things or shy away from you know touchy subjects. And yeah, again, I mean this just really struck all of those chords.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

It's jarring coming from Michael to this. Go ahead, Jack.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

I always wait too long, then I start losing my thought. But uh yeah, I mean, I going to like you saying favorite flavor of a biopic, I feel like this was like one of the things it it potentially wasn't that factual. Like, I don't know how many exact specifics were used, but you walk away like understanding like the core of his person, which is like Hunter really well uh articulated it well there with like what cooking meant to him, but also just like how he kind of I mean it starts with that quote, um, which was basically like he just needed a good ass kicking. Um and that's kind of you know, uh Antonio Benderos plays that mentor role for him. Um, but like yeah, you don't necessarily think to like, oh, I'm gonna need I need a fact check during this, like some biopics, uh that's kind of how you watch them. This was really like you're just understanding the core of um Anthony Bourdain. And I think that's why I thought it's a it's a great like way to acknowledge the life of a massive figure um like Bourdain.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Yeah, if anything, I'm I'm kind of excited now that I have this whole um journey I can go back on with Anthony Bourdain because I wasn't as familiar, but now seeing kind of how captivating of a character and person he was, it's kind of exciting to, you know, maybe I can read Kitchen Confidential now, and maybe I can go consume his show and really learn about what he contributed to the world of food and and um restaurants and uh go to a new local spot near you too.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

I feel like that's all every time I watch his show, I'm like, I can just walk into a place and I don't know. It's inspiring. I do have breaking news though. It appears Hunter um went from a four to he changed it to a three and a half star.

SPEAKER_03 14:01

What I feel like I I feel like what's happening with my letterbox reviews is I'm trying to scale them back a little more. Yeah, I I feel that.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Um we're like is that because you need the highs to shine, or is it because my highs don't shine, that's my problem.

SPEAKER_03 14:17

Um we're like yeah, sorry. I like this movie's awesome, but I'm like, this is not like the greatest movie I've ever seen or anything. Like it's just a fun little 90-minute movie that like this is like a chicken soup movie for me. Like, this is probably something I'll put on like in the background in the future. Um but yeah, like I I guess we'll get to ratings at that point. Like, I am probably on like a 70-75 year.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Um it is weird rating, like you watch the Odyssey and try to rate it, and then you watch Tony, and you're like, is this even the same like in the same scale?

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I this I also have this other, like maybe it's its own scale, but I have this sort of like uh criteria for movies where it's like, oh, I can have friends or family watch this, like I could recommend this to them, or I can like put it on if people are over, and like it'll be enjoyable. And this is one of those movies too. The same with the holdovers. I got my family to love that movie, but uh yeah, I don't know. This is one of those movies where you know, it's like um, you know, someone is coming over and I'm not sure what to watch, but you know, I can throw this on and it'll be great.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It reminds me, I I can't think of the name, but the Channing Tatum where he was in the Walmart or the Toys R. Oh, Roofman. Roofman. That's another one of those where I don't know if y'all saw it, but it was just like it's a very pleasant, like I that that genre movie is just so nice to be able to fall back on, especially yeah, like when with family or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Like those movies are necessary. It's like it's not fluff or filler. There's like substance to it. It's just, you know, it's um it's accessible.

SPEAKER_03 16:03

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, again, we I feel like we've talked about this before that like the rating, the ratings themselves are are dumb. Like the idea of rating something on any level, but you know, like I do, I am trying to reserve my fours and fives more for stuff that's like like life-changing, I guess, like something that really like pushes the envelope of the medium. Um, so I'm I have a lot of times like rated a movie four, and then I'm like, uh, I could probably push that down a little more. Um I'd almost have to cull my entire letterbox though to like do that, and I'm not doing that.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Does five exist for you? Like, is and and also does five mean perfect?

SPEAKER_03 16:51

Like, five doesn't exist for me, because five probably does mean perfect. But I that's just a flaw with the letterbox rating. Like, I feel like you'd probably just never want to give a movie a 100, you could just cap it out at like a 98 or something for like a like like the godfather or goodfellas or something, but sure. Um, I don't know. It's a it's always a difficult thing because really the only accurate way would be to like have a weighted scale based on like multiple aspects of a movie, and that's just like way too complicated for me wanting to write like six sentences on letterboxed.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

That's that's this is why I love Richard Brody with The New Yorker, because he doesn't he he has like some of the best reviews I ever read for any new movie, and he never rates it. It's like you're you're reading it and you're you're also kind of like, I don't even know if he liked this one, and it's like that's it's a the the rating, it reminds me of the price is right, where it's like the the points don't matter. It's like we hopefully the the substance of our review carries the weight, and then it's nice to attach the review, but sometimes it can feel a little I don't know. I've also follow a guy who gives every movie five stars and and then just talks about it. It's like that that is nice because yeah, sometimes it's like what even does a three and a half, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

I I mean I I think I lean more this direction for music, but I feel like I've always just had an open mind enough to find something to love, and it could be like in a performance, it could be lighting, it could be the production design. There's always something that I'm gonna walk away with loving, also just because I think you can't like love and appreciate the art form of music or film if you can't, you know. It's like, do you actually love it if you can't give something a five-star, or you can't just say, you know, unabashedly, this is one of my favorite things. Um, so yeah, I I I'm curious about these uh reviewers now. I'm also curious if uh, because I'm very unfamiliar with Anthony Bourdain exploring Austin, um, but it seems like a place he must have visited.

SPEAKER_03 18:56

I believe he does have an Austin episode because I remember he goes to the bakery by my house with the neon Indian, and I know he does Franklin's as well.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Does he?

SPEAKER_03 19:05

The Austin episode's pretty good. Um, it's if not a little sad because most of the places he goes to are like completely obliterated now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Okay, quality seafood.

SPEAKER_03 19:16

Yeah, yeah. Oh, did he?

SPEAKER_00 19:18

That's up by me. Okay, that's good to know because it's sort of yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Maybe we do like a little detour uh clip or episode where we're hitting up some of these spots. I feel like that'd be cool. Obviously, too, the movie hasn't come out yet, so we could still keep it going.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Well, Nick, really quick, I know you're sorry, but on that note, I was thinking this is it, this is one of those examples where they could do so much with the marketing for this that like uh illuminates his career and his life while like sending people to like I it's like bringing old episodes back. Like I'm excited to see with the rollout as it gets closer to release. Oh, yeah. If if like they start highlighting more of his old episodes, people start reading the book, learning more about it. So I just think I think that's when you know a biopic just is doing a good job. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

Well, I did I mentioned it to you guys the other day, but I did want to re-shout out that I apparently have been to his favorite bar in the world, Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge in New Orleans. It's also one of my close friend D-Robb, his favorite bar in New Orleans. And uh yeah, I guess I didn't even realize or connect the dots that I had been there until uh the lead up to this film. So um it's a very dy, grungy spot, but uh I get the appeal, I get the luster. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 20:32

It coincides almost perfectly with like us talking about ratings and like finding enjoyment in things. Like if you go look up Anthony Bourdain's like top 10 greatest restaurants of all time, there's like a mixture of three-star Michelin, like very snooty French restaurants, and then like Oklahoma Joe's in Kansas City. It's just like onion rings on my brisket sandwich. Like he knew it doesn't have to be like fine dining to be fine dining. Um you can enjoy the onion rings as well. Um great. Let's close it. You guys want to do your let's let's just do the ratings anyway. I said mine was a 75.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

I'll do a 76 for whatever that means.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

This should be your bit. You just rate one higher than whoever the last person was.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

It's price is right.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

To bump up the average a little bit, I'll go like one 115. Okay. There we go. Or do you break the scale? 80 81 just because I think it I don't know, it just might be it might be so rewatchable and so accessible for me that I could just see it being one. Like it's I don't necessarily watch cable anymore, but it reminds me of a movie where it comes on and I just I sit I sit with it for the whole runtime and just enjoy it. So I'll go I'll go 81.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

I think that's fair. Good job, Matt Johnson. Keep it up. Phenomenal work.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Anthony Anthony Bourdain.

SPEAKER_03 22:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Well, we're not the culinary mind, but we are the Cinephile Mind. Head on over to thesinephile mind.com, head on over to the Cinephile Mind on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, especially our YouTube. Come on, y'all. And um, yeah, give us a like, a comment, tell us your favorite Anthony Bourdain story or spot, and we will catch you on the next one.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

Bye, everybody, and go to your movie theater.