Vassar, like life, can be a difficult experience where you can be judged more for how you are perceived instead of who you actually are. Directed by Matt Johnson, “Tony,” the recent pseudo-biopic about Vassar dropout Anthony Bourdain, is a flawed but beautiful coming-of-age flick that touches on this sentiment.
We meet our main character, Tony—played by Dominic Sessa of “Holdovers” (2023) fame—as he loses out on an opportunity and, like many Vassar students, seeks out change in a new place out of frustration and a bit of yearning. The visual aesthetic Johnson evokes in the journey that Tony takes is one that you may have not felt since you bundled up at sleepaway camp to watch a 2000s classic comedy old inspirational football or baseball film flicker onto a log wall from a squeaky projector.
In an era of film that is increasingly trying to elicit deep-seated feelings and fears—just take a look at the success of “Obsession”—“Tony” keeps it a bit shallow while ultimately staying sweet. Also, yes, they shot all the “Vassar” scenes at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts; I saved you a Google search!
Tony’s yearning for a better life following his failure to get a summer writing fellowship manifests in his escape to Provincetown, Massachusetts. There, he searches for fellow Vassar student Nancy, played by Emilia Jones. However, he quickly learns that Nancy has a boyfriend and gets into drunken trouble with The Flagship, a local restaurant.
He then goes on a culinary journey of forgiveness with the restaurant and staff after being taken in by head chef Ciro—played by certified “Puss in Boots” legend Antonio Banderas—who lets Tony crash on his backyard hammock and employs the disgruntled young man in The Flagship’s kitchen as a dishwasher then chef. The most notable people that shape Tony’s journey over the course of the summer, apart from his somewhat creepy infatuation with Nancy, are Ciro and his fellow chefs Sal (Leo Woodall) and Dimitri (Stavros Halkias). Sal allows a great juxtaposition to Tony with his confidence and self-destructive nature, whereas Dimitri is great comedic relief who gives the growing young man an opening to the community that exists in The Flagship’s kitchen.
“Tony” is a relatively safe movie. It has its moments of light whimsy, a dash of yearning for change and self-growth and occasionally some tension, but ultimately, that is about it when it comes to strong emotions. Like Tony’s character development from a somewhat troubled and very angsty, insecure loner toward some kind of maturity, the viewing experience is gradual but builds to a bigger picture by the end.. The repeated shot of Ciro waking up Tony with a giant pot full of water is emblematic of this, as the head chef physically and symbolically forces the young Vassar men to action and to find some agency in his life.
However, the film is not boring. It is actually quite refreshing to have a movie that takes its time and is not toying with some higher altruism or moral grandstanding. It is a character-centric movie that largely focuses on how the chefs change Tony and how he changes them.
The only characterization that left a bad taste in my mouth was Nancy, as she is given no depth and acts exclusively as a conduit for Tony’s emotional and sexually driven motivations. Additionally, despite basically stalking Nancy and lying to her throughout the film, Tony never seems to experience real consequences for his actions, further dehumanizing her. Combined with The Flagship’s hostess Mary, played by Monica Raymurd, who gets almost no lines and serves as a plot device for Tony and his targeted sexual harassment, I do believe that the film has a fairly maligned outlook on women. Or at least one that does not view them as valuable characters.
However—and I have to get this out of the way as a lifelong Provincetown and Cape Cod enjoyer—queer people are notably absent from the film. I have been to P-Town and even watched the “Parts Unknown” episode where Bourdain describes his time there in the ’70s, and the movie’s portrayal of the town as a straight-laced family summer destination is blasphemous. It is America’s oldest gay summer colony, and the film might as well have been set in Chatham or Mackinaw Island.
Additionally, one scene’s setting is reminiscent of the interior of a bar in the town that is one of the oldest gay clubs in the country, yet they frame it as just another dive bar! It is nice to see the unfortunately dying Portuguese fishing community of P-Town represented, but Matt Johnson dropped the ball hard on what the place is actually like and how Bourdain himself was influenced by that.
Is “Tony” the kind of film that will blow you away? Probably not, but that is not its goal. I left my theater on a nice summer night, thinking of sitting on a beach in Cape Cod and the transformative power of change? Yes. I recommend you catch “Tony” if you want that feeling of ease and to see the classic tale of an annoying guy from Vassar trying to become a less difficult person on the silver screen.