Film Review: Tony

Tony
Director: Matt Johnson
Star Thrower Entertainment, Zapruder Films
In Theaters: 08.21.2026

Some people become famous simply for being famous, their names floating through the culture long before we understand why they matter. Anthony Bourdain was a different kind of celebrity — one built on curiosity, honesty and a hunger to tell stories. While he lived a colorful life, Tony doesn’t try to be a biography; it just does exactly what its subject did by simply telling us a good story.

Tony (Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers, Oh. What. Fun.), a 19-year-old aspiring writer, loses out on a prestigious fellowship and finds himself without plans for the summer before he starts college. When he runs into Nancy (Emilia Jones, CODA, Winner), a girl from his high school who is spending the summer in Provincetown near Cape Cod, he follows her out there under the false pretense that he’s writing a book. Finding himself with no home or prospects, Tony reluctantly takes a job as a dishwasher at a bustling restaurant, The Flagship, where the owner and Chef (Antonio Banderas, The Mask of Zorro, Babygirl) takes Tony under his wing, giving him a nickname — “Flaco” (skinny or slim) — and a hammock out back. As Tony bonds with the colorful kitchen staff and gets to Nancy, he becomes less interested in cultivating an image than in living life and discovers the adrenaline, discipline and artistry of professional cooking.

Tony isn’t a biopic; it’s an origin story, one that’s less interested in chronicling a hero’s exploits than it is in letting the audience and its title character slowly see the potential hidden beneath the bluster. Director Matt Johnson, fresh off the goofy sleeper hit Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie, has all the necessary ingredients for a tasty dish right in front of him and wisely chooses to garnish it lightly with a simple but elegant presentation, letting the flavor speak for itself. There’s no need to add a lot of spice to the plot, as the freshness of characters and the natural zest of the dialogue give us plenty to savor. You don’t need to be particularly interested in haute cuisine or travelogues to be swept up in a well-told story about people who are genuinely happy because they find fulfillment and even passion in doing something very well, or to be swept up in the romance of just letting life take you wherever it wants to go. The skillfully timed editing by Curt Lobb and Robert Upchurch never lets the film lag but never gets too hyper or impatient in trying to rush things along.

Sessa has already proven himself to be a naturally magnetic presence, and he makes the transition from supporting player to leading man with surprising ease. There’s something rakishly likable about Tony from the word go, but finding him amusing and rooting for him to come out on top are two different things, and Sessa keeps his performance grounded in the moment instead of trying to win us over. We’re not fully on Tony’s side until he buckles down and decides what succeeding really means to him, and Johnson and Sessa effectively let us experience that rite of passage alongside him. The always marvelous Jones makes it easy to see why Tony can’t forget about Nancy and raises the character above feeling like a stock, coming-of-age movie, aspirational love interest by playing Nancy not as a plot device in Tony’s story but as the lead character in her own. Banderas proves to be the secret sauce that gives the film its zing, playing one of the most likable roles of his career and bringing a delightfully earnest warmth that will bring to mind every mentor who saw more in you than you saw in yourself.

If you’re perusing the menu for a movie that’s both delicious and filling, you can’t go wrong with Tony. Richly seasoned with humor, heart and hard-earned wisdom, this movie should satisfy even the discriminating tastes. —Patrick Gibbs

Read more film reviews by Patrick Gibbs:
Film Review: Motor City
Film Review: The Odyssey

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