Dallas Fisher

Up until a week before I saw this movie, the poster made me believe it was a movie about karate. Up until the end of the actual movie, I’m still not sure I know it’s about Anthony Bourdain.

Tony falls into a very unique realm of biopics where they were better off just playing this as a coming of age story about a chef, because that is basically what it is. The only moment that makes this feel like a biopic is when, spoiler alert, his full name is shoehorned into a conversation. Quite honestly, it was an odd choice to play this like an origin story when 95% of the people who know about Bourdain, know him from the last decade of his life. The previous sentence could also be very untrue because that’s just how I feel about him and the only reason I know anything about “Tony” is because of his tragic ending.

If you ignore the real life connection to this movie, Tony is really good! Matt Johnson (Blackberry) is back with a second hit this year. It’s very different vibes than his previous work, but when you’re on the heels of a comedic smash hit, it’s okay to switch things up a lot. The humor is obviously very prevalent but not overwhelming. Because, just like the great Marvel movies, you don’t need an annoying comic relief ruining the mood every three minutes. It’s also not the most light-hearted fellowship of a movie but it’ll still have you in your feelings or at least Tony’s feelings.

Another good title for this movie would have been The Social Network: in the Kitchen. The curly hair, the know it all lead, and that lead acting like he has everything under control. It’s all here. Dominic Sessa is the perfect and not-so perfect casting for the role of Anthony Bourdain. He is great at playing this mostly unlikeable punk character side of things but he is not great at looking anything like AB. In fact, if this was a Matt Jonhson biopic, the looks and mannerisms are all there for that. This can all be filed under whatever, because I enjoyed the story of this human being on screen. Watching a resilient flawed man at work in a kitchen worked and I’m thrilled they didn’t make him into a monkey for no reason.

Kitchen culture is very much the rage in my household right now with the return of Kitchen Nightmares and oh boy was this kitchen a hilarious nightmare. I never got into The Bear but I can only imagine this is another perfect representation of it. At the center of this is the incredible casting choices for the kitchen crew. Who could have imagined that Antonio Danderas, Stavros Halkias and Leo Woodall’s personalities would mash so perfectly, but boy do they ever. Remake The Bear right now with this cast and I’ll give it a shot. Speaking of giving it a shot, Emilia Jones. She should be given all the shots to make her a star. Many times throughout the movie I was saying to myself ‘’ who is that??” and I’ll never make that mistake again. I knew I loved her in Task and I loved her here again. She gets the opportunity to shine even in a mix of other big names and roles.

Now I know the only reason you’re really going to get people to see this movie is putting Bourdain’s name on it, but we’re to a point where Matt Johnson should bring in enough of a crowd and his chops should bring the rest by word of mouth. Tony is a grind that is well worth the time on the waitlist, even if the origin story for one of the world’s favorite people feels a little undercooked.

7/10