Variety's new review of "Tony," Matt Johnson's biopic about the young Anthony Bourdain, continues to praise the film and newcomer Dominic Sessa, but this version leads with critic Owen Gleiberman's framing device: whether Bourdain himself, notoriously blunt and quick to dismiss inauthenticity, would have approved of the picture. Gleiberman concludes the film "clears that bar," arguing its portrait of the 19-year-old Bourdain during his 1975 summer in a Provincetown restaurant kitchen stays true to his contradictory character even as parts of the story are fictionalised.

The review highlights an opening scene in which Tony pitches a novel to a panel of Vassar professors for a writing fellowship, showcasing the charisma and gift for talk that would later define him. Director Matt Johnson, known for "Blackberry" and "Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie," draws on early chapters of Bourdain's 2000 memoir "Kitchen Confidential" for a film structured partly as a romance, blending fact and invention. Gleiberman likens its tone of youthful discovery to films such as "Adventureland" and the work of Richard Linklater, and singles out Sessa's performance as a genuine star turn.