Tony (2026) - Spoiler Free Review

Film Details

Director: Matthew Johnson

Run Time: 1hr 46m

Cast: Dominic Sessa, Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, Antonio Banderas, Stavros Halkias, Monica Raymund 

Synopsis

A nineteen year old Anthony Bourdain stumbles into a restaurant kitchen and embarks on a summer that will change the course of his life.

My Review

Tony is a charming and ironically heartwarming coming of age biopic that will also have you wanting to grab its titular character by the scruff of the neck and shake some sense into him! Director Matthew Johnson finds a harmonious balance between humour, drama and suspense, with Dominic Sessa continuing to impress in these types of roles! A young Anthony Bourdain is abrasive and damn right rude on the surface, but his story reels you in with an amazing journey of self discovery and development, an origin for the world renowned chef.

This biopic might not have the grandeur and scale of some of its genre counterparts, but in my opinion it’s all the better for it. The small confides of a Cape Cod island allow this coming of age story to flourish but it’s the cast that really allow it to excel! Antonio Banderas’s calmness and screen presence establishes a mentor that adds weight to each of Tony’s failures and his successes. Whereas Leo Woodall plays Banderas’s erratic counterpart, the devil on the shoulder of our protagonist and it’s another really strong performance. Tony feels real and relatable and that’s because the writing does the basics well, its character focused, it’s driven by the complexities of human nature and it trusts the audience can handle an often hard to watch character arcs on display.

My Rating: 8 out of 10

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Film Review Club