Coming of Age in the Kitchen

     An excellent story does not have to be on an epic scale; the best story tellers can take simple slice of life stories and turn them into something special. Tony is about one summer of Anthony Bourdain's life, and for the most part, it is nondescript. He does nothing extraordinary in this story, but I was completely locked in and enthralled the whole time. A large part of this can be attributed to Matt Johnson's direction and ability to tell stories, but Dominic Sessa's acting ability also plays an integral role in the success of this story. 

     Tony is going into summer break from college at Vassar, and he is an aspiring writer, but when he finds out that he is not getting a fellowship to write a novel, he follows a crush to Provincetown to try and hook up with her. Quickly, it becomes apparent that this is not going to happen, and Tony ends up drunk at a bar, and after he makes a fool of himself, the chef takes him in and lets him sleep on the hammock on his deck and wash dishes at the restaurant, so that he can earn his keep.

     Despite this downfall, Tony stays persistent on trying to work his way into Nancy’s heart, but he is also becoming a degenerate. There is a guy that he works with that does not make the best choices, and it is negatively influencing Tony. He is drinking heavily, starts smoking, and he even dabbles in some drugs. Eventually, he realizes that he is going about this all the wrong way, and he starts to apply himself. He starts to gain the respect of the chef at the restaurant and Nancy. 

     Just when it seems like everything is going to start turning around for Tony, it burns to the ground (almost literally). He comes up with an idea to add a special to the limited menu, and the chef agrees, and it starts out great, but when Tony has a lapse of attention a fire starts, and when he throws water on it, it just makes it worse. The fire ends up being bad enough that the restaurant has to close, but Tony does not care, he has finally made the connection with Nancy, so they flee the scene, but before they can truly connect, Tony comes clean about all of his lies, and now he must reckon with all the damage he has caused to both Nancy and the Chef.

     An interesting aspect of this movie is that it is technically a biopic about Anthony Bourdain, but as mentioned, it is more of a slice of life story that could have been about anyone. He is just washing dishes and trying to hook up with a girl, something relatable to endless amounts of adolescents. Tony has to choose between going down the path of drugs or choosing to commit himself to his work, and he chooses the work. Again, a timeless trope, so to me, it almost hurts it that it is about Bourdain, but I feel like they needed the famous name attached to draw more audiences in to see it, which is sad, because this is so great, it should not even need the biographical association. 

     Antonio Banderas plays the chef in this movie, and he is incredible. He does an excellent job of balancing being a quiet man of faith and a hard nose chef. He vacillates from quiets moment of caring to loud and in your face orders, and occasionally there are a few stabbing comments to people that have hurt him. Chef takes Tony in even after he was jerk in the restaurant, and he gives him a chance, but he is hard on him because he believes in him. Then when Tony breaks that trust, the Chef does not hold back, and he only needs to say one line to cut Tony down to size. 

     Dominic Sesa rose to stardom after starring in The Holdovers, and after his performance in this, I can only assume he is going to flourish. He is dark and brooding, and despite his frame of skin and bones that looks like it is about to collapse in upon itself, he is able to command a room. He gives off a confidence that he continually does not earn, but he is unwilling to back down. He is persistent and almost perpetually unhappy probably because he is always lying and having to keep up with those lies is stressful. Occasionally, there might be a slight smile, but for the most part it just feels like there is a dark cloud over this character as he tries to prove something to everyone even though he ultimately does not know what it is he wants to prove. 

     The music can also make or break a film, and the score and needle drops in this are incredible. The score is emotional and is a beautiful addition to scenes. The songs are also emotionally perfect for the tone of the film. It gives it a punk rock feel to most of it, which plays into the brooding, and they also hit with some slower songs as well. “Calvary Cross” playing on his ferry ride to Provincetown is the best example. It just fit in perfectly. 

    Also this movie taking place in a kitchen just made my mind start to work. They were doing basic stuff like oysters, fish and chips, and lobster, but the chef really cared about what he was making. So I was sitting there just pondering what I could do to make my dinner at home that night just a little bit better, or if I could try to make sauce later in the week to put on the tacos to make them a little bit better. It was not even an overtly cooking movie. They only have one or two real scenes where it is look woah that chef rules, but it was enough to light the spark and to make me hungry.

     They also had the whole kitchen dynamic down. The chef took his job seriously, but the rest of the crew just seemed like a bunch of screw ups that were there to have fun. Their comedy was excellent. I was worried when I first saw Stavros on the screen, because he can be so over the top, but I think he has really started to nail his spots in films. Woodall also does an excellent job of being the bad influence and trying to drag Tony down with him. The scenes in the kitchen reminded me of working at Five Guys, like people are trying to do their job well, but they are also messing with the people around them to try and make the time go by and limit the stress of cooking hundreds of meals.

     Overall, this was an incredible movie. I am still contemplating it, but it might be the best movie I have seen all year. The Odyssey is of course incredible in its own way, but stories like this really seem to sit with me more. So right now, I have The Invite as number 1 on my list, but I seriously think that this will top it. I am hopeful that Sessa and Banderas can receive some awards attention because they deserve it. I highly recommend seeing this film! I give it 4.5 Stars!