Antonio Bandera (left) stars as Chef and Dominic Sessa as Tony in the biopic “Tony” (Photo courtesy of A24)
(“Tony” trailer courtesy of A24)
Who knew that chasing skirts and lying compulsively could lead one to fame and fortune?
And who knew that with the right encouragement, a person who started as a dishwasher at a small restaurant could become one of the most celebrated chefs in history?
That is the story of the Anthony Bourdain biopic “Tony,” a movie in which Antonio Banderas steals the show with his tough love and compassion.
It is funny how life works for many people.
Young teenagers go off to college for the first time every fall with their entire lives mapped out in their heads or on vision boards.
They know what career path they want to take.
Therefore, many have picked majors and minors that will best prepare them to achieve their dreams.
In “Tony,” the titular character has dreams of becoming a great novelist.
In 1975, Tony (Dominic Sessa, “The Holdovers”) is a student at the prestigious Vassar College.
Furthermore, he is under consideration for a writing fellowship that will allow him to live in New York for the summer as he writes the perfect debut novel.
Based on the committee members’ remarks during his interview, he feels confident he will be chosen for the coveted honor.
Tony is so confident that he tells his parents and brother that he probably will get it.
He even tells Nancy, a girl whom he has had a crush on since high school, that he will be in New York over the summer thanks to the fellowship.
Nancy must not know about his success because she remembers Tony as a younger classmate with a temper.
She tells Tony that she will be in Provincetown over the summer, and to look her up in September when his fellowship and writing are complete.
But when the fellowship committee calls Tony with some bad news, he keeps up this facade of being this great up-and-coming writer.
With nothing to do over the summer and nowhere important to go, Tony rips out a picture of Nancy from a yearbook, steals money from his parents, and heads to Provincetown to be with the woman of his dreams, while still telling everyone that he is working on this great piece of literature.
Tony begins showing Nancy’s pictures to strangers on the streets of Provincetown, finally running into someone who points him in the direction of the pizza parlor that Nancy works at.
But a wise person once said, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.
Unfortunately, Tony probably never heard that saying because he doesn’t believe in God.
However, he believes in providence and destiny because how else could someone explain his stalking and creepy behavior towards Nancy?
When Tony does see Nancy at the pizza parlor, she is in the arms of another man.
And like any rejected and depressed man might do, Tony resorts to the bottle to drink away his pain.
And by bottles, think like five to 10 bottles of beer, that he might have a hard time paying for since he did not receive that fellowship money.
When the drinks finally catch up to Tony, he finds himself beaten up and robbed outside of the restaurant where he got wasted.
Thankfully, the Chef (Banderas, “Black Butterfly”) at the restaurant has a little compassion for Tony when he realizes he has no money.
Chef offers Tony the hammock in his backyard in exchange for working as a dishwasher in his restaurant.
However, Chef has one main rule that will keep his employees in his good graces, and that is to never come to work late.
That might be a problem for Tony because he seems to have no structure and discipline in life, despite his great intelligence and talent.
In addition to being an aspiring novelist, Tony is a skilled visual artist with a knack for drawing.
To solve the problem, though, Chef has a way of waking Tony up from his deep outdoor slumbers that will remind many of how Madea (Tyler Perry) woke up Helen (Kimberly Elise) in “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”
But Chef does it every morning, and even has Tony reliving it in his dreams.
Even with the guidance of the Chef and support from his parents back home, Tony still seems unable to get out of his own way.
But Chef seems to see something special in Tony, making it hard for him to throw in the towel, even when towels and fire extinguishers are needed to save lives and property.
Tony is not the only person with something special in him.
Banderas gives a special performance.
He is that one schoolteacher who discovers a young person’s talent when they did not even know they had that ability.
He is that one coach who has hard rules.
But he gives the person with potential the benefit of the doubt because he knows that person has greatness in them, if they could just find the discipline and maturity needed to reach greatness.
And he is that one boss who has his own vision for his business.
But he allows that employee with potential to use their creativity to take the business to another level.
Banderas exhibits all those characteristics as Chef.
But he does it with charisma and charm that really shines on the big screen.
Tony and Chef are likable characters.
But all the characters are likeable, even a jerk like Sal (Leo Woodall, “Tuner”).
Woodall has shown great range in his 2026 movie performances.
Unfortunately, “Tony” is a little too slow-paced in the beginning.
But who knew that a college student writing a coming-of-age novel would experience his own coming of age that led him down a path of stardom?
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE
ONE CROWN=POOR
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