Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain is not an easy ride, but it's worth every minute
By Karen Gordon
Rating: A
It was never going to be easy to talk about this.
Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef, gifted storyteller, a man who changed the cultural conversation on mainstream television - and maybe the most rock ’n’ roll of non-rock stars - died by suicide at the age of 61 in 2018 leaving millions fans reeling.
That’s three years ago already, but for many of us, it still feels like yesterday.
Bourdain’s intelligent, cynical-but-approachable, no bullshit style made us feel like we knew him. But we didn’t. Given who he was, and the way he left the planet, a documentary about him was perhaps inevitable, and maybe even, necessary - not just to remember or to consider his legacy.
The irony is that the guy who spent his life asking questions and looking for answers, left so many big questions behind for the millions of us who watched him. In the face of the unanswerable, maybe we need a film to consider his legacy, and also to serve as a kind of collective grappling with his tragic final choice.
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, by Academy Award winning director
Morgan Neville (Twenty Feet from Stardom, Won't You Be My Neighbor?) is an excellent, thoughtful documentary that does both of those things.
The film is roughly in two parts. Using Bourdain’s own words, Neville spends the first hour in a fairly happy mode, tracing Bourdain’s career. It’s the story of a big restless intellect that found focus and discipline in the kitchen as a chef, and then as Executive Chef at Manhattan’s Les Halles.
Bourdain, the professional chef, really thought of himself as a writer, and indeed the turning point in his life came with the publication of his best-selling memoir Kitchen Confidential. In that book, you have the start of that distinct Bourdain style, and the attributes that would ultimately make him so effective on television.
He was a terrific story-teller, who seemed morally bound to tell the truth, even if it hurt him. He presented as a cynic, and he was. But he was also passionate about what he loved, and a perfectionist. “Why do it if you’re not going to do it properly?” seemed to be the running subtext of pretty much everything he did.
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He was conventional and unconventional: married to his high school sweetheart, and also fascinated with counterculture and drugs. In some ways, you could draw a line to Bourdain from what we euphemistically call the 60’s generation - sex, drugs, rock’n’roll, a desire to know the world and cultures, and an intellectual idealism rooted in humanism, and a feeling that it was all bullshit anyway so you might as well have fun if you can. How could you not love the guy?
The story-telling and the attitude on display in Kitchen Confidential caught the attention of two producers who would be with him for the rest of his life. Lydia Tenaglia and Chris Collins liked what they read. And before ever meeting him, the decided to build a show around him.
That show, called A Cook’s Tour launched the tall, craggy, lanky, wry chef into the public eye.
Fortunately, the camera loved him, capturing charisma that would only grow as he became comfortable with the medium. That and his love for food and the people who made it, made him a stand-out.
As his success grew, Bourdain left day-to-day restaurant work, and became a media figure. And so, the tight circle of people who knew Bourdain best included the crew he worked with. For perspective, Neville turns to Tenaglia, Collins and that crew, his directors and camera operators and editors who travelled with him, and worked with him on putting the shows together, They provide the perspective and commentary of life on the road with Bourdain.
A Cook’s Tour ended, but that was only the beginning of his TV career. There were more series as things progressed and Bourdain carved out his niche. It was food, mixed with culture, and then even some deep dives into politics all conducted while preparing and/or eating a meal.
Bourdain on the scene.
But success came at a price. The demands of his final show CNN’s Parts Unknown, and other perks and obligations that come with being a hugely popular international celebrity chef, kept him on the road for upwards of 250 days a year.
There is excitement in this kind of life, far from a home base with new things to discover. But it can also be isolating and destabilizing, and Bourdain was feeling the effects of being pulled into this vortex.
In the second half of the film, Neville begins to look at the way a life of successes, ironically built on Bourdain’s strengths, began to wear on him. Bourdain was a seeker, but also obsessive, a perfectionist and an addict.
In addition to his production team - his work family - Neville turns to a small group of people close to Bourdain for perspective throughout the film.
They are generous and unguarded on camera. They include his ex-wife Ottavia Busia-Bourdain (with whom he shared a daughter), his brother Chris, and his close friend chef Éric Ripert, who appeared frequently with Bourdain on TV. Ripert had the misfortune of discovering Bourdain’s body during a shoot in France.
Neville also gets perspective from fellow chef and writer David Chang, artist David Chao and musician Josh Homme who sang the theme song to Parts Unknown. They also show up for their late friend, and, do him the honour of talking truth even when it hurts.
In our media-saturated world, with its sensationalism and melodrama, talking about someone’s death in public can descend into more exploitation than illumination. Talking about the suicide of a beloved figure is that much more complex.
But here’s where Neville’s mastery as a filmmaker, and frankly, his heart shows.
He manages to give us a portrait of a complex, brilliant man, without taking apart his humanity. He doesn’t invade Bourdain’s psyche by doing a posthumous psychological dissection, making presumptions or analyzing his actions in retrospect from the point of view of outside experts, just to tie it all up in a neat bundle.
In the end, there are really no good answers. There are many reasons this is a very good film, but its respect and its humanity in the face of suicide is a major one.
And so Neville gives us Bourdain’s close colleagues and friends remembering him, each in their own way grappling with the suicide of their incredibly talented, complicated friend. It feels like the right thing to do.
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain is a carefully made film, a wonderful homage to a flawed hero. It will lift you up, it will potentially break your heart. But it will remind you that you’re not alone. We’re in this together.
If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, the Canada Suicide Prevention Service is available 24/7 for voice and 4pm to 12am ET for text. Call 1.833.456.4566 | Text 45645
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, written and directed by Morgan Neville, featuring Anthony Bourdain, Lydia Tenaglia, Christopher Collins, Eric Ripert, Ottavia Busia-Bourdain, Chris Bourdain, David Chang, David Chao, Josh Homme. Opens in theatres on Friday, July 16.