Tony.

Full disclosure, I was a big Bourdain fan. Which makes this telling of his early formative summers in Provincetown all the more disappointing. Expectation is a killer. If the subject matter was not who it is this film would not have made it out of the streaming world. The film itself is a mid level tramedy full of the usual teenage tropes. However Dominic Sessa does a convincing job portraying the young moody aimless insecure nineteen year old who escapes in shame to Provincetown after having been turned down for a writing fellowship at Vassar, lying to everyone along the way about his writing creds. Stranded and broke he his forced to stay, finding a job at a local restaurant as a dishwasher. With a crew of drug taking misfits who he eventually identifies with.  There is a telling scene in the middle of the film where in the kitchen of the owner/chef José Vatel played by Antonio Banderas Bourdain  sees a painting of a famous French chef preparing a banquet for Louis 14 about to kill himself over the fact that the fish supplier was late. Explaining to the clueless Bourdain who fails completely to grasp the implication.  Much later I his storied career the implication would become clear. I suppose it was inevitable that a film like this would appear, given Bourdain’s immense influence in a world he almost created. It’s not terrible. Director Matt Johnson should be applauded to taking on this doomed project.     172 stars

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