Critics give their verdict on Anthony Bourdain biopic ‘Tony’: “It’s a lovely and deeply likeable work”

Critics have been giving their verdict on the upcoming Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony. Set to arrive in cinemas this August, the new A24 film is directed by Matt Johnson (Blackberry) and stars The Holdovers’ Dominic Sessa in the title role. It’ll take a deep dive into the early years of the late food icon, and explore how he started out as an aspiring writer before discovering his love for cooking. This, he did by taking a job at a restaurant on Cape Cod over one summer when he was 19. Starring alongside Sessa are Antonio Banderas – playing the chef at the restaurant who helped him find his true calling – as well as Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, Dagmara Dominczyk, Rich Sommers and Stavros Halkias. The beloved American chef and author died by suicide in 2018, aged 61. Many critics hailed the movie with Variety writing: “To me, if an Anthony Bourdain biopic can’t clear the bar called ‘Bourdain would have liked it’, it’s probably not a good movie. ‘Tony’ clears that bar.” The Hollywood Reporter also praised the movie adding: “A slender slice of a famous life, the movie feels a little wispy in its mix of scrappy and sweet, rough-edged and yet bathed in the balming glow of nostalgia. But it...