Film Review – Tony

Earlier this year, director Matt Johnson delivered an offering of cinematic joy with the Canadian comedy, “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie.” It was a hilarious, irresistible blend of character work and absurdity, hitting all the right notes as a freewheeling viewing experience that played to Johnson’s strengths as a manager of wonderful nonsense, backed by strong technical credits. Now he’s ready for more of a dramatic challenge with “Tony,” which explores a summer in the life of Anthony Bourdain, inspecting the formation of his passions for writing and cooking in the summer of 1975. Johnson doesn’t lose his nervous energy for “Tony,” but he strives to calm his usual jitteriness, trying to replicate his 2023 success with “Blackberry” with another loose take on bio-pic happenings, eschewing history to find his way to the core of Bourdain’s personality. And it clicks, finding a story of character development that’s superbly supported by acting achievements and atmosphere. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com