Tony biopic takes a closer look at Bourdains beginnings
Tony Looks More Interesting When It Stays Small
The new Tony biopic arrives in theaters August 7, with Dominic Sessa playing Anthony Bourdain during his early culinary career. The Cape Cod setting and Matt Johnson’s direction suggest a film less interested in recreating the famous travel-host persona than in showing the working life underneath it.
A useful test for the film I’m cautiously interested, partly because Bourdain’s legacy is easy to flatten into quotes, restaurants, and stylish melancholy. The better version would show the labor, hierarchy, and messy food communities that shaped him. A conventional biopic can still work if it notices those details.