Aaron's Thoughts
I’m honestly not sure if Matt Johnson is capable of making a bad movie. Even when he makes something that on paper is nothing more than a conventional paycheck job with commercial appeal, he’s still turning in a wonderful piece of art.
I don’t quite understand why all biopics aren’t slice of life stories based on a short period of time in the subject’s life? It seems like a win win to me. You appease super fans of the person by showing them things they likely have never thought about or knew of. And you also appease the people who know nothing about the person by giving them an entertaining story that just so happens to be about someone famous. Like for Tony, even if you had never heard of Anthony Bourdain in your life, you could appreciate this as a story about an arrogant kid growing up and learning about himself over the course of a summer.
When that slice of life approach is taken, it’s almost always creatively better than trying to cover someone’s entire life from cradle to grave (Deliver Me From Nowhere is the exception not the rule). I guess it just doesn’t have as much commercial appeal because you aren’t playing the hits? It’s exciting when you see something like this, but also a bummer because it’s such a rarity in the biopic genre.
As for the performances, Woodall is rightfully getting a lot of praise for this, but to me Antonio Banderas is the real MVP here. He is the heart and soul of the film & none of it works without his presence calming get commanding presence. Honestly, it may be one of my favorite performances of the year so far & in a more just world he would get some awards recognition.
More than anything this is just a great vibes movie. It’s the kind of movie I want to throw on in the evening just so I can hang out with everyone in it for 100 minutes. Which is why I have a feeling there are many rewatches in my future once this hits digital. In the meantime, see it in a theater!
