Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Boourdain (2021)

You know what's missing from Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain? Anthony Bourdain. The documentary while touching and quite entertaining is an exercise in the futility of telling a biopic in this form. The film isn't about him. It's about what is missing due to his loss. It is about how he impacted others. It is about him being gone. 

I am not overly familiar with Bourdain. I didn't follow him or his shows. I had heard a lot of tales of the "bad boy" of the chef world. I think I expected something different. I've seen documentaries of celebrities lives, those alive and dead, even those involved in the film itself. A commons staple of the genre are the tense drama scenes, the temper tantrums. None of that is here. For all his reputation all we see of Bourdain in this film is him being very likeable, relatable, and generally decent. Talking heads tell stories of him being difficult but he never really see it. This could be because the footage just doesn't exist. Or maybe the film makers just didn't want to include those scenes out of respect for the man. Whatever the reason they aren't here. 

And that's because this is about a man who is no longer here. He is the missing piece and this film is about all that he offered and what's not here because he's gone. And that in itself is fascinating. The film is very watchable and very engaging. But it's about piecing together things that just aren't there. And maybe that's the point. 

I imagine fans of Bourdain will enjoy seeing this tribute to him, a film that paints him a very flattering if tragic light. For someone like me that didn't know much it was an opportunity to learn about him as if I was discussing him with many of his surviving circle. His journey certainly is a compelling one and the loss of him feels quite tragic. But I'm not sure we get to know him. Once person in the film points out we don't get to know what happened the night of his suicide. We don't really get to know the man. We get to know what everyone around him thought of him. And perhaps that's all we'll ever get. 

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

Director: Morgan Neville