Can One summer change the trajectory of your life?
The 20206 film Tony about a young Anthony Bourdain chronicles the summer his life took a turn that would alter the trajectory of his entire future.
The urge to embark on a Cape Cod summer journey for inspiration is stronger than ever after watching Tony in theaters. Tony, starring Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, and Leo Woodall, chronicles a life-changing summer in Cape Cod for Anthony Bourdain that changes the trajectory of his life for the better. Anthony Bourdain was a renowned American Chef, television host, and author who explored how food connects us all as humans. He originally rose to fame with his best-selling memoir, Kitchen Confidential, published in 2000, which exposed the inner workings of the food and restaurant industry. However, his start in the industry was no easy feat and his life could have very easily taken a different path if it were not for the summer of 1975 and a little restaurant called The Flagship.
Tony was a beautifully shot, phenomenal film. In the era of biopics, it can be hard to see a film that stands on its own. Recently, filmmakers have been using the genre to focus on a singular event or chunk of time in a person’s life instead of attempting to squeeze an entire life story (or years of life) into a two-hours-or-less film. This tactic is genius and, in my opinion, exponentially more effective. For Anthony Bourdain, the summer of 1975 was the catalyst for a turning point in his life that ultimately led him down the path toward his true passion and success. Making a film that could go into detail (with likely a flair for the dramatic) about this experience was the right way to go and had us all leaving the theater inspired and amazed.
An A24 production, Tony was directed by Matt Johnson with a soft cinematographic feel, despite chaos erupting throughout the film. Shot on vintage Panavision lenses, it was as if the audience were “transported” back in time, Bec coming part of a memory or the past, versus experiencing the sharp, direct vision of today. There was a warm lighting tone throughout the film that added ambience in its entirety. Everything really did feel like were were spending a summer in Cape Cod at 19, with things not too serious until reality hit.
The chemistry built between Dominic Sessa and Antonio Banderas was magnetic. Mentor-Mentee relationships can be difficult to cover, but they did an amazing job. Watching a selfish 19-year-old discover his own humanity through an unexpected mentor was heartwarming. That being said, Anthony Bourdain was not a flawless protagonist. In fact, he was the exact opposite. For over half the film, you can’t help but hate him. For every right move forward, he took about 20 steps back, creating turmoil often not for himself but for everyone else around him who just wanted to help. No good deed goes unpunished. Is that not what being 19 is though? Maybe not to those extremes, but the bones are all the same. He was an egotistical young adult who thought he was the smartest person in the room, considering himself “too good” for every position he found himself in. But it were those experiences that turned him into the icon we know today, that taught him the lessons he carried down every road thereafter.
The film opens with a quote pulled directly from Anthony’s memoir, Kitchen Confidential:
“I was —to be frank—a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, badly in need of a good ass-kicking.”
This was the perfect opening and paved the way for a story that did, in fact, include a spoiled, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout who was definitely in need of a good ass-kicking. it led to a satisfying ending, and I don’t think there could have been a better way to do it. Tony was a magnetic, intriguing, and beautiful film filled with people who were clearly dedicated to the project on all fronts. This is not a film to miss.
Shelby Ferguson
