Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

Starring: Anthony Bourdain, Asia Argento, David Chang, David Choe, Josh Homme, John Lurie, Eric Ripert
Directed by: Morgan Neville
Rating: R
Genre: Documentary
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Follows the rise of Anthony Bourdain from chef to celebrity traveler and journalist, to his untimely and tragic death.

Review:

Tim: I was excited to watch Morgan Neville's Roadrunner because I found Anthony Bourdain to be a fascinating human being. He was clearly so intelligent, yet rebellious, gruff but lovable. He brought this incredible sense of awe to his travels, but seemed to have a darkness to him. Like anyone in the public eye, I knew of him only superficially. I'd hoped this film would shed new light on him. It accomplished that to some extent- it pulls back the curtain and helps you better understand the man. Unfortunately, there were some controversial aspects to this documentary that I believe hurt the film, too. Still, Morgan Neville knows his way around a documentary, and does enough right here for me to consider this a well-made, must-see film.

This documentary sets out to do what it intended. It shows us archive footage of Bourdain's life, helping us to understand how he quickly rose to international stardom and how he felt about living in the public eye. We get to see interviews with many of his closest friends, who often reveal a different side to Bourdain. We get to hear about him as a man, not just a celebrity. I find Bourdain fascinating, so it's not a surprise I was so easily compelled by the film. Neville welcomes us into Bourdain's world and it's a journey very much worth taking. I like Neville as a filmmaker, but I have to be honest, what's most compelling about this film isn't how he directed it, it's the life Bourdain led. Neville deserves credit for assembling the pieces in a way that's entertaining and logical, but he had incredible subject matter to work with. You'd have to be a poor filmmaker not to be able to turn Bourdain's life into a compelling onscreen story. The movie does exactly what it's supposed to- we see intimate moments throughout Bourdain's life, his incredible rise, the dark side of being famous and how Bourdain's personality clashed with what he needed to be in front of the camera. It's a truly fascinating exploration of this man.

I believe Neville said that part of his inspiration for this film was wanting to understand how a guy with "the greatest job in the world" could take his own life. The movie does a nice job of balancing these two aspects of Tony- we dig deep into his job and how that impacted his lifestyle. And then, after a certain point, the movie shifts to focus on his tragic death. I think Neville mostly is trying to understand, but it on occasion feels a little intrusive. I suppose in the end, it does more good than not- if it helps us to understand how someone on top of the world could end it all for themselves, it puts mental health in a new light for us. The constant reminder is that it's not about the external aspects of our lives, it's about what is happening internal to us.

I do want to discuss the most controversial aspect of this film. Neville and his team occasionally used "deepfake" technology to recreate Bourdain reading emails or saying a specific quote for which there was no audio recording. I know some people dismissed the entire film because of this. I think it's less bad if the technology was used so we could hear Bourdain reading his own words, but it's troubling- how easy would it be for a future filmmaker to use this technology to make us hear something an individual never said? It felt unnecessarily messy. It felt like Neville took a documentary short cut. He prioritized telling his story verses leveraging what was available for the documentarian. It gives the film a slight sense of inauthenticity, and that's one thing you don't want in a documentary. I wish Neville chose a different route and I don't think those lines made that much of a difference to the overall film.

Despite this, I'm automatically interested in any documentary about Anthony Bourdain. Neville is a really good documentary filmmaker- 20 Feet from Stardom won an Academy Award for Best Documentary and Won't You Be My Neighbor? was a powerful study of Fred Rogers. It's not often you find a director who's delivered three must-see films like this. This movie is absolutely worth your time. The biggest takeaways, though, aren't the controversial aspects. This film shows us a life extremely well-led. I find immense inspiration from the life of Anthony Bourdain. There's something so fascinating about him and how he lived his life. I aspire to be more like him. I love that Neville gave me this opportunity to understand more of this incredible human being. I definitely treasured this opportunity.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: 20 Feet from Stardom, Won't You Be My Neighbor?