Dietrich Theater’s Fall Film Festival: “Tony”
In this origin story of a voice that defined a generation, 19 year old Anthony Bourdain stumbles into the chaotic work of a Cape Cod restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.
After I first saw the trailers for “Tony,” I automatically put this on my must-see list. Once I saw that the Dietrich Theater added this film to their festival line up, I knew that I had to add it to this week’s review slate! And, after finally checking out the film about how the young Anthony Bourdain started out, I can definitely say that this film is highly recommended!
Dominic Sessa brilliantly captures the raw, messy energy of a young Bourdain. Instead of doing a cheap impression of the older, famous Bourdain (R.I.P), he successfully portrays the awkwardness, unearned arrogance, and vulnerability of a teenager still trying to find himself. Antonio Banderas also truly stands out as the weary, grounded restaurant owner and his moments also help provide the film’s emotional backbone.
Adapting early chapters of Bourdain’s famous memoir “Kitchen Confidential,” the film perfectly captures the “mile-a-minute bustle” and chaotic energy of a restaurant kitchen. Rather than focusing on high-end culinary glamour, it emphasizes how grueling faster paced manual labor shapes a young person’s identity and passion.
The mentorship between the younger Tony and the head chef-owner provides some of the most memorable moments of the film. Some of the major highlights of their scenes involve the chef always waking up a hungover Tony by throwing seawater on him and forcing him to attend Sunday Mass - something that contrasts Tony’s teenage cynicism with the chef’s rigid moral code.
There’s also a very pivotal moment involving Tony attempting to prove himself by getting the chef to offer a really nice lobster special that they both work on together - which ultimately doesn’t quite work out well at the end.
Overall audience and critical response to the 2026 film “Tony” has been highly enthusiastic and positive. Viewers have widely embraced the unconventional approach of this biopic, which adapts the early chapters of his memoir to focus entirely on a
single, formative summer in 1975 Cape Cod.
Cast: Dominic Sessa (Tony); Antonio Banderas (Chef); Emilia Jones (Nancy); Leo Woodall (Sal); Stavros Halkias (Stavros); Michael Jibrin (Tyrone); Monica Raymund (Mary); Rich Sommer (Pierre); Degmara Dominczyk (Gladys)
Writers/director: Todd Bartels (writer); Lou Howe (writer); Matthew Miller (writer); Matt Johnson (writer and director) (Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie; BlackBerry)
MPA: Rated R for pervasive language, drug use and sexual content/nudity (running time 106 minutes)
This project originally began as a Black List script by Lou Howe and Todd Bartels. Producers Trevor White and Tim White pitched the film to Matt Johnson in the wake of BlackBerry (2023)'s success, with Johnson initially passing on the film, mostly due to his unfamiliarity with Anthony Bourdain's work (later saying he was no different than Guy Fieri in his head). Johnson didn't become interested in the project until a lunch date with Dominic Sessa in New York months later, which, in Johnson's words, "transformed what was a kind of dull prospect into something shiny and new."
Matt Johnson's first time filming a movie outside of Canada. Johnson considers Provincetown, Massachusetts to be the most cooperative city he has ever shot a movie in.
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