The Movie: Tony
The Cinema: Palace Cinemas - Balwyn
Runtime: One hour 46 Minutes
Stars: 4
The movie Tony is based on the early life of chef Anthony Bourdain, cook, chef, writer and traveler. A bon vivant in many ways, I was a fan of his Parts Unknown series where he went off the beaten track to find delicacies.
Tony looks at the time in his life when he cultivated his love of food and the cultural values he placed on it.
At the start of the film, Tony (Dominic Sessa), or Anthony to his mother, is a shit of a kid. In his own words he says he was a 'pretentious, insufferable little snot who thought he was smarter than everybody else.' The young Tony, overconfident trash bag that he is, follows a girl, Nancy (Emilia Jones) on holidays in Provincetown. Turning up with nowhere to live, next to no money and a broken heart after finding out Nancy was seeing somebody else, he gets a job as a dishwasher in a bar, where there are four things on the menu, a narky chef (Antonio Banderas) and a bunch of reprobate kitchen hands.
Sal (Leo Woodall) one of the kitchenhands takes him down the wrong path for a bit, before chef takes him under his wing and sees what Tony can't - that he's a chef in the making.
There's a lot to like in this film. It's fast-paced and with an edge of danger, as Sal introduces Tony to some of the recreational drugs that can be found in these American seaside towns. The other thing that had me looking away was watching the young Tony's knife skills. There is inherent danger when it comes to shucking oysters.
It's also deliciously funny and wise a lot of the time. It also show's America in its mid-70s best. The sets and costumes set the period beautifully.
This is a really enjoyable film. Dominic Sessa shines as young Tony, Antonio Banderas's Chef helps to tame the insufferable youth. I really enjoyed Emilia Jones' turn as the plucky Nancy. Leo Woodall is great as the slightly unhinged Sal - he's been making some cool choices of late - this is one of them.
Matt Johnson, who directed the under-rated film Blackberry has done a very good job on this. He also worked with Todd Bartels and Lou Howe on the script. It's really well done.
I recommend this one for something different. It's not too long, engaging and shows the in auspicious start of a man who grew into a cultural icon.
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