Anthony Bourdain had one helluva summer. This was 1975, long before the man became a televised chef. In fact, this was before the man even considered being a chef. “Tony” Bourdain wanted to be a writer. Lacking money, housing, clothing, food, he followed a girl to Provincetown for the summer – a girl who had no interest in him, btw – some call that “stalking.”
Well, yeah, it IS stalking. But in 1975, America was a little more open to the idea of humoring prospect-challenged incels.
Tony (Dominic Sessa) establishes himself almost immediately as overconfident, a near habitual liar, and a talented artist. He certainly knows what beauty is; he also has no problem constructing a grandiose fairytale about winning a Vassar College writing fellowship. We excuse this because his dad is a yes man and his mom is a tyrant. 
Nevertheless, it seems short-sighted of the kid to up and leave for Provincetown without anything but the money lifted from dad’s wallet. He doesn’t even tell them he’s going. In fact, the only reason he has selected Provincetown is because it is the summer destination of Nancy (Emilia Jones), a classmate that Tony is gaga for.
The affection is not returned.
After finding out Nancy has a boyfriend, Tony gets drunk, then tossed from a restaurant, punched, and robbed in succession. Feeling empathy for the kid, the restaurant owner deposits Tony on his porch hammock for the night and then wakes him with a bucket of ocean water. The owner (Antonio Banderas) becomes Tony’s best friend for the summer, albeit reluctantly, both hiring him and teaching him the restaurant biz. And every morning, Tony still wakes up to a bucket of cold water.
So Tony the film is a coming-of-age. Does it work if we don’t know who Anthony Bourdain turns out to be? Yes, BUT a limited yes at that. The enjoyment of the film helps a great deal when Tony keeps insisting that he’s a writer, ha ha. Dominic Sessa is the correct age for this role, more-or-less; the problem is Sessa looks and acts like he’s already in his 30s. I have no doubt that when he starts getting the parts he was meant to play, he will nail them, but I found him a little to old for this role. As a coming-of-age teen, he reminds me less of Anthony Bourdain and more of Daniel Stern in Breaking Away, my very favorite coming-of-age film. Fans of Bourdain and teen drama will likely enjoy this film a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if it drew end of year awards. But I won’t be giving it any.
There once was a young chef named Tony
Who beat town on a premise most phony
The kid tracked a gal
And found a new pal
Who forgave that his story was bologna
Rated R, 106 Minutes
Director: Matt Johnson
Writer: Todd Bartels, Lou Howe, Matt Johnson
Genre: Somebody was inspired by a magazine article, huh?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Anthony Bourdain fans
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People left wondering if “Tony” would have been a better writer
