For people who seem lost in their purpose in the world, sometimes it takes running away from the only place they’ve ever known to find themselves. The new A24 film “Tony” depicts world renowned chef Anthony Bourdain’s monumental and career changing summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
We are introduced to a young “Tony”, who is attempting to swoon his way into a writing fellowship by pitching an endlessly pretentious, “philosophical dialogue between Jack Kerouac and George Orwell.” While he surprisingly doesn’t get chosen, he uses this opportunity to lie to his parents and run away to the East Coast in pursuit of a childhood crush, Nancy.
However, the heart of the story lies on the curb of a local seafood restaurant after Bourdain is found broke, battered and beaten, literally. The owner, played by Antonio Banderas, gives him a place to sleep in exchange for washed dishes and, occasionally, shucked oysters.
According to the film and the subject himself, Bourdain was a “spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, badly in need of a good ass-kicking,” as the chef writes in his memoir, “Kitchen Confidential”. While others may seem surprised by this honest assessment, I think it is exactly what makes the film great. Ironically, in the film, every time Bourdain falters, it is his inauthenticity, due to him being too insecure of his social standing or his profession that brings him down in his relationships with his co-workers and with Nancy.
Although the majority of the film is littered with Bourdain constructing contradictory stories in which he switches between being a writer and a cook, there are moments of vulnerability that seem almost poetic in the grand scheme of the story. One line that personally stuck with me was when Bourdain revealed to Nancy, “I want you to take my photo because I like the way I feel when you look at me.” This intimate confession paired with a somber piano, which is repeated in certain pivotal scenes, strikes a cord in me every time.
Overall, I appreciated how “Tony” felt less like a retelling of Bourdain’s life and more similar to a universal truth. While many people may not relate to having multiple well-loved TV programs where they can travel wherever they please, it is guaranteed that at least someone can relate to the smallest, chaotic and unplanned morsel of time, even for just a few months, having the largest impact on who they are and who they will be.
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