Episode 321 : Tony

Have a Negroni, have two, and get the cream sauce.

Matt and Bob are back to review Tony, the new Anthony Bourdain biopic starring Dominic Sessa. Rather than attempting the usual cradle-to-grave biopic, the film zeroes in on one formative summer in a young Bourdain’s life—before Kitchen Confidential, No Reservations, and Parts Unknown turned him into a cultural icon.

The guys discuss why the movie works surprisingly well as a Bourdain origin story, Dominic Sessa’s tricky task of capturing the essence of Bourdain without doing an impression, Antonio Banderas’ scene-stealing mentor performance, and the film’s blend of The Bear with the laid-back coming-of-age energy of Richard Linklater.

They also dig into the movie’s ideas about food, community, selfishness, and the experiences that eventually shaped Bourdain’s worldview. Plus: callbacks to Kitchen Confidential, why Dominic Sessa desperately needs to escape the 1970s, Matt’s encounter with Leonardo DiCaprio, and the triumphant return of an Analysis Awards category: Biopic That Was Worth a Shit.