Tony Reviews

From the dialogue to the simple cinematography and everything in between, this just might be one of the best biopics out there. When Micheal came out, I thought, good but safe. This is excellent and courageous, exactly what a biopic should be, a person in imperfect and that’s what makes them human, this project has one thing that most don’t have, Heart.

Everything is near perfect and the magic that the film creates while you watch it will stick to you for days to come.

“Wanna learn how to shuck an oyster?”

@gcarv wouldn’t dare to even look at the plate of oysters. He’d probably be running towards the bathroom if he saw the lobster roles

Antonio Banderas ❤️

solid biopic on anthony bourdain, focused on his time spent working in provincetown as a teenager. the music, performances, and visuals were the personal highlights to me. very cool to see dominic sessa in a lead role. overall a bit generic, but still a good time

I'm glad everyone is enjoying Tony because I'm happy I watched it, but it didn't strike me as a movie that stands out. I loved the performances- Sessa and Banderas work perfectly together, with Leo Woodall a standout- but beyond that, I felt it was a little run-of-the-mill.

The reason I saw this film is the best part of the movie: the mentor & student relationship of Chef & Tony.

Hold on, I just gotta propose to Emilia Jones 💍

While he’s doing everything wrong, and actively hard to root for, you’re still hopeful for him.

I thought it was really good! And probably one of the most normal stories that A24 has made lol

Initially when I heard they were making an Anthony Bourdain biopic, being a big fan, I was annoyed and thought the writers were simply hopping on the recent wave of (slop) biopics coming out. And then when found out Antonio Banderas was playing a made up guy, I thought for sure this was just going to be another inaccurate sensationalized Hollywood biopic that’s going to completely distort Bourdain and probably just play into this saint-like perception of him that every other bitch on instagram seems to be pushing. But Matt Johnson created a character that feels very true to the way Bourdain described his college aged self in Kitchen Confidential despite the plot of the movie taking from a lot more than just that one chapter of his book. There was one interview of Johnson talking about Tony and I can’t remember exactly what he said but I think he was referencing something either Werner Herzog said or an author Werner Herzog was quoting or it might have even been a substack writer referencing the both of them, but the idea stuck with me (which is ironic): “Don’t let the facts get in the way of the truth”. I think this concept applied to a biopic like this where it’s just one summer of Bourdain’s life, or rather many summers and moments condensed down, works very well. Both Chef and Sal may not have been one to ones of real people in Bourdain’s life but they represent the conflicting influences of many different role models he had in his youth.

While it might seem like a far jump from the vibe and production style (no jared raab😕) of any of his previous movies which was another thing that worried me going into it, it still feels very much like a Matt Johnson movie with the plethora of montages and needle drops. The soundtrack and score were fantastic, which was no surprise, the leitmotif was great especially in the scene after the flagship burns down and we see Anthony walking away with only the smoke behind him and this absolutely gutted regretful look. ouuhg just amazing. Obviously there is the other much more unfortunate Classic Matt Johnson Movie Thing of having really shittily written women (with the exception of Matt and mara…kind of) but at the same time I don’t even know enough about Nancy to have any idea of what she would look like more fleshed out. Not excusing the completely shallow writing but I do wonder what the people who are up in arms about Matt Johnson’s sexism would have wanted her character to be in the context of the whole story. Because it seemed like to Tony (the character), Nancy (the character) really wasn’t much more than a girl he thought was cute and mysterious and decided to make her the object of his affection and essentially center his life around her. Which is very shallow writing but it is also is very much obnoxious guy-following-his-dick-and-not-his-head behavior which Bourdain was the first to admit to being in his early 20s.

I have a lot more to say about the “hidden Matt Johnson story about going to christian summer camp and being obsessed with the older boys wanting to be them but also being scared of them and the whole being convinced his mom hated him and hating her in return” as well as how Johnson has been responding to all the Hollywood press and attention because it’s totally different and much bigger than the response any of his previous movies have gotten, but i’m trying to recover from the journal factory explosion so ill be normal…

Pretty dope thank you Matt Johnson

It was alright. The actor playing him was mid.

Q&A with Matt!

A beautiful and heart warming movie. I wish I could erase my memory just so I could experience watching it again.

a little self-indulgent and over the top in moments as it tried to convince within a very short time the absurdity of his actions and who he surrounded himself with. overall it was a compelling story of growth and maturity 🎥

6/10 - I’ve heard the name and I knew he was a chef, that’s pretty much all I knew going in. Didn’t quite pack the punch of something like The Bear but it was a good little story, with some great moments. A shout out again for Woodhall who I think will go far!

Really good biography , heartfelt, simple , good morals and well directed

Interesting movie. Slow pace. Do not watch while tired and hungry 😂💀 I’d say a 7/10

OH, and pleasantly surprised to see Antonio Banderas in this. In my opinion, he has a great accent and voice to have to listen to for an hour+

Instant comfort film bro
Everything was perfect
Matt Johnson with another amazing film!

AMAZING!!!