Tony (2026)

Brent Marchant August 11, 2026

★ 6/10

Stories about challenged individuals who manage to turn their lives around are immensely popular with moviegoing audiences. But there’s a big difference between those that depict individuals who beat the odds against them and those featuring characters who have to dig themselves out of their own self-created holes (and it should be easy to guess which ones are more well-liked). Such latter circumstances are the ones in play in this biographical comedy-drama from writer-director Matt Johnson, an origin story about how celebrity chef and culinary travelogue host Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018) got his start. In 1975, Bourdain (who curtly and routinely informed others that he simply wanted to be called “Tony”) (Dominic Sessa) was enrolled at Vassar College in one of the first classes to which men had been admitted to the former all-women’s institution. He was seeking (with brazenly con…

CinemaSerf August 24, 2026

★ 7/10

I reckon Anthony Bourdain has a lot to be thankful to a girl called Nancy for, for without her inspiration (and his hormones) he might never have gone to Providence in 1975 and discovered how to shuck an oyster. Luckily, having been turned down for a writing fellowship he (Dominic Sassa) decides to follow this girl he has meet only once since school, to this town that reminded me of "Amity" from "Jaws" (also set around the same time). Serendipty is fairly omnipresent for him so he bumps into her - amongst the thousands of seasonal tourists - only to find that she is already working in a pizza place for the summer and has a beau. Tony decides to drown his sorrows and being a bit of a lightweight on that front we find that six beers appears to do the trick - before he is tossed out onto the street and duly robbed. Luckily, the owner of the "Flagship" from whence he was evicted (Antonio Ban…