Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021)

First things first, thank you to my distant cousin Luke and his newly wedded wife, Paige, for requesting this review! Congratulations on getting married too! Just to put into perspective how AMAZING I am at fulfilling requests, they requested this review when the film first came out in 2021. They were still engaged at the time! Anyone who requests reviews, no matter how long I procrastinate, I will get to your request!

Anyway, Roadrunner shows both just how much patience goes into making a documentary and how people should record themselves more often. I'm not much of a documentary guy, but I truly admire how much footage must have been shot and how much probably didn't make the cut. I'd honestly watch hundreds of hours of Anthony Bourdain. He's a man I almost aspire to be. Almost.

The film opens with Anthony talking about death and how theraputic it is to think about it. After the opening sequence, his own voice tells the audience that there is no happy ending to his story. It is unfortunately true, as immediately after, one of the interview subjects refers to him as a "fucking asshole" because Anthony committed suicide in 2018. If you knew who Anthony was before the film was released, and there were definitely millions that did, you know how he passed.

The film itself follows Anthony back to the late 1990s when he was just a chef in a restaurant in NYC. He was being recorded by a crew even back then. While working there, he writes a book, Kitchen Confidential, which becomes a best-seller and launches Anthony into stardom. He writes more books, gets TV deals, including his famous traveling documentary series, Parts Unknown. It also shows his marriages, divorces, family life with his daughter, and his relationship with filmmaker Asia Argento at the end of his life.

Anthony, like all humans, had quirks, but he was truly an inspirational and interesting man. He's the kind of guy I'd love to be friends with. Everyone that gets interviewed about him obviously thought the world of him. He also was an amazing father who loved his daughter dearly, despite not desiring to have children earlier in his life. As mentioned above, he traveled often and visted new places. He had a life most people only dream of having.

As I watched the film more, I felt so sad knowing how it would end. The documentary is a sobering wake-up call that some people are still depressed even if they have an awesome life that other people are jealous of. Even while watching the film I missed him, and I was only just getting to know him. It's painful watching the subjects break down and cry when talking about his death. Despite it not being touched upon, I also thought about how he won't see his daughter graduate high school, or college, he won't see her get married, have children. The film makes you think about everyone else whose lives you envy. They might be suffering behind closed doors...or even in plain sight and they're just good at covering it up.

I know I'm spending a lot of time talking about his death but that's the biggest consequence of suicide; no one will ever forget how you decided to take your own life. It takes away so much from everyone's perception of your life as a whole. It's why I give credit to this film for focusing mostly on his life. Mostly. How he died takes up probably the last quarter of the film.

All in all, Roadrunner was a great film. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Anthony and his life. I rate this film GREAT on the scale. Anthony, rest in peace. Everyone misses you.

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS THINKING ABOUT COMMITTING SUICIDE, CALL OR TEXT 988. HELP IS AVAILABLE 24/7.