Tony

The fact that Tony happens to be a biopic about a young Anthony Bourdain has very little to do with its recipe for success.

This conventionally structured coming-of-age saga is designed more as a nostalgic crowd-pleaser than a hard-hitting expose, as it charts a big dreamer trying new things, finding his way, and learning to appreciate the world around him.

Offbeat and evocative, this tart yet tender comedy provides some insight for Bourdain fans to connect the dots. But you don’t need to be familiar with his life and career to appreciate this working-class origin story.

The story opens in 1975 with 19-year-old Tony (Dominic Sessa) as a slick-talking college student applying for a writing fellowship at Vassar, which he claims would help fulfill his literary dreams but instead seems designed to placate his overbearing parents.

He conceals the subsequent rejection by fleeing for a summer on Cape Cod to chase his ex-girlfriend (Emilia Jones). Tony is naïve and adrift, without a career path or a moral compass. His reckless impulses tend to mask an almost disarming tenderness, although he’s burdened with self-doubt and almost crippling insecurities.

Eventually, Tony lands a dishwashing job — and a hammock — with Chef (Antonio Banderas), a former culinary prodigy who now runs a scrappy seafood joint on the beach. He immerses himself with the ragtag kitchen crew, most notably Sal (Leo Woodall) a tough guy who becomes a confidant before revealing a darker side.

The experience is gradually humbling for Tony as he learns everything from shucking oysters to entrepreneurial instincts. Chef also breaks down the stubborn youngster by questioning his career ambitions: “I’ve never seen you write anything,” he barks.

Sessa (The Holdovers) fully inhabits a role defined by fascinating contradictions — he’s charismatic if somewhat arrogant, outgoing bordering on obnoxious, yet with an underlying introspection and vulnerability.

He captures hard-earned sympathy for Tony, even if some of the supporting characters remain undercooked. The exception is Chef, given a wounded wisdom by Banderas that offsets the film’s sentimental tendencies. The relationship between mentor and protégé provides the film’s emotional anchor.

Meanwhile, Canadian director Matt Johnson (Blackberry) captures the period setting in a film that offers a solid mix of laughs and heart. Above all, Tony functions as a tribute not to the title character, but the unheralded role model who transformed his tastes.

Rated R, 106 minutes.