Tony

Last night I went to see Tony with my nephew and I think it is a brilliant coming of age story (or bildungsroman as Tony would say).  Anthony "Tony" Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) is a brash and arrogant student at Vassar studying writing.  He applies for a prestigious fellowship but, when he doesn't get it, he tells his parents that he did and follows his crush Nancy (Emilia Jones) to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she has a summer job.  When he sees that she already has a boyfriend, he goes to a local restaurant called The Flagship and gets drunk.  This eventually leads to a job there as a dishwasher and he soon becomes immersed in the chaos of the kitchen.  He also befriends a volatile and heroin addicted cook named Sal (Leo Woodall) and pursues Nancy by lying about the fellowship.  After Sal goes on a bender and is fired, Tony lies about his restaurant experience and is given his job.  The Chef (Antonio Banderas) takes him under his wing and begins teaching him, but when Tony makes an error trying to impress Nancy which results in a catastrophic fire, he realizes that Tony lied and he fires him.  Tony has a moment of truth and ultimately confesses to Nancy and makes amends to Chef who, in turn, gives him a letter of recommendation for the Culinary Institute of America.  This reminded me of the biopics by Pablo Larrain about Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, and Maria Callas because it focuses on one pivotal period of time that changes the trajectory of Bourdain's life rather than the entire story and this approach is extremely effective.  I did not know much about Bourdain, beyond the fact that he was a chef who explored cuisine around the world, but I think this stands on its own as a universal coming of age story and I found it very compelling.  I think Sessa is strangely appealing (I adored him in The Holdovers) and his performance as a young man trying to find his way is incredibly nuanced.  I was especially struck by the stark contrast between his interview for the writing fellowship at Vassar and his interview for admission to the Culinary Institute of America.  Banderas and Woodall (who is playing against type) are also outstanding and have a lived-in chemistry with Sessa.  Finally, I loved the 1970s aesthetic in the production design (especially the music and the costumes).  This is a definite crowd-pleaser and I highly recommend it.