Tony
I thought Matt Johnson’s Tony was excellent, on par with Blackberry, and probably again, undertouted. I was disappointed Blackberry didn’t garner any Oscar recognition, and I’ll be disappointed if Tony doesn’t either. The acting is excellent, the writing is excellent, and I really enjoyed the cinematography. Jay McCarrol’s score was also amazing, and my appreciation for his partnership with Matt Johnson is at an all-time high after our Nirvanna the Band the Show and Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie watch. Worth a watch!
-Z
I really liked the fact that this was just focused on a snapshot of Anthony Bourdain’s life, but since I only know him from watching his show pretty sporadically, I get the feeling that a bigger fan of his work would have gotten more from the plot, seeing parallels from his beginnings to his later career. So, it was initially a little underwhelming, but the more I think about it, the more impressed I am with what they were able to do with the film and how excellent the acting was. A little predictable at times, but I think I’m okay with it generally. And I loved to see the Nirvanna duo working together again behind the scenes!
-E
Surprising to seemingly everyone, I do not know who Anthony Bourdain is. I don’t know what shows he was a part of or what he did, so this movie was going to be a history lesson for me. In a lot of ways, I left the film in the same unknown about him, as it focused only on his pre-fame years, but that changed the enjoyment in no way for me. I thought it was portrayed great and almost felt like a strong fiction film at times, which created a good element to it. The acting was great, the story was great, and the film was great. Sadly for the score, it was great in a lot of ways, just not groundbreaking - leaving me with an 8.
-J
