A24’s Anthony Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) biopic doesn’t fit that genre. Tony isn’t a biopic, it is a bildungsroman. That’s a German loan word meaning coming of age story and I learned it while watching the dinner scene in which Bourdain’s mother responds to his enthusiasm over a applying for a Vassar writing fellowship by criticizing his intellect and implying that he’s maybe not up to being a novelist. This scene tells us all we need to know about Bourdain’s life up to this point. No matter how good he is, how much he knows, or what he accomplishes it is never enough. A single misspoken word and his mother is ready to remind him that he isn’t perfect and, therefore, isn’t worthy. This creates an odd combination with Bourdain projecting a fragile arrogance, buttressed by his many lies. When he doesn’t get the writing fellowship he lies and says he did. When he is told that his crush is unapproachable he pursues her anyway and follows her to Provincetown. When he runs out of money and needs a job he lies about his work experience.
The many lies of Bourdain do catch up with him in big and small ways throughout the movie. With every prank his coworkers pull or every failing he demonstrates before his mentor, known only as “Chef” and played to perfection by Antonio Banderas, there is a sense that Bourdain is learning. The positive side of his mother’s harsh moral lesson is that each failure is an opportunity for growth. By the end of the movie we can look at this arrogant prick who deserved the black eye he received his first night in Provincetown and see a man who has been cured of his childishness and ready to come into his own.
Here I will confess that I am not particularly familiar with Anthony Bourdain the man. I haven’t read Kitchen Confidential and I’ve never seen more than a few clips of him online. I’m coming at this in an ignorance that will not be common for the target audience. Even my cursory knowledge is enough to know Bourdain still had his demons. One summer isn’t enough to morally perfect a man. It’s only enough to make a boy try to live his life as one and learn the importance of honesty. Especially the importance of being honest with yourself.