ADDICTED TO THE EXPERIENCES
Anthony Bourdain expanded America’s food tastes.
Roadrunner is a documentary portrait of Anthony Bourdain for those who already loved him BY SETH SOMMERFELD
A
nthony Bourdain was a man always chasing that next hit of dopamine. That next fix. When he was young, it came in a literal sense — heroin. But then he quit that cold turkey — a nearly unparalleled feat that shocked his friend, artist David Choe. In the most revelatory moment in the new documentary Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Choe says that what he realized through observation was that Bourdain’s addiction never went away, it just jumped from new interest to new interest until he committed suicide at age 61 in 2018. What made Bourdain a star on his various culinary travel shows (A Cook’s Tour, No Reservations, Parts Unknown) was twofold. First, he had an amazing appetite for new experiences and a true empathetic curiosity. But second, and perhaps even more importantly, he always felt like the coolest guy you could possibly hang out with while globetrotting. At its core, Roadrunner mainly feels like it’s one last hang with Tony for fans and the people who loved him. Under the watch of director Morgan Neville — Oscar winner for 20 Feet From Stardom (a profile of background singers) and an absurd Oscar snub for the even better Mister Rogers doc Won’t You Be My Neighbor? — the film seems designed for those who already love Bourdain. It doesn’t go deep contextualizing his rise to fame, more taking it as a given, and also doesn’t offer many unexpected revelations into his person. In some ways, it has a very TV documentary feel (it is a product of CNN Films), letting the immense trove of existing footage do
the work with assistance from interviews with his friends But even while he was becoming a beloved figure, the (fellow chefs, his TV directors, producers, camerapeople, love around him didn’t seem to penetrate his soul. Darkex-wives, and artists like Choe and Queens of the Stone ness loomed around every corner, even if his outward apAge’s Josh Homme). pearance stayed gregarious. The film documents his adBourdain was a chef who was known for his zeal for dictions jumping from cooking to writing to TV to family life far more than for what he made in the kitchen, gainto taekwondo to lovers. It paints a picture of a bipolar ing fame initially via his bestselling book Kitchen Confidenman haunted by romantic ideals of life he can never seem tial. When his following book, A Cook’s Tour, blossomed to attain (though actually the fact that he was bipolar and into a television show, Bourdain found the calling for the clearly so is shockingly never mentioned considering how rest of his days. He was the swashbuckling rebel pirate of much it explains). In the end, the darkness won. the food world, as he put it, “the antidote to the chummy That also sets up the most uncomfortable part of the and adorable TV chefs” like Emeril Lagasse. Perhaps his Roadrunner — its portrayal of Bourdain’s last girlfriend, aura can best be distilled by a shot in actress Asia Argento (who is not interviewed). the film where an exhausted Bourdain ROADRUNNER: Neville paints her in an unflattering light that is slumped on the floor of an airport, feels really unseemly, coming up just short of A FILM ABOUT puffing a cigarette under a sign that blaming her for pushing Bourdain to the point ANTHONY BOURDAIN reads “Be a Traveler, Not A Tourist.” of suicide by being a chaotic sort of passionate Rated R Being someone who spent 250 lover and then eventually canoodling with othDirected by Morgan Neville days a year traveling means Roadruners. By the time Neville allows one of the talking Starring Anthony Bourdain, ner can basically track his entire life in heads to step in and say it’s all Anthony’s fault, Ottavia Bourdain, David Chang the spotlight. (There are also plenty not Asia’s, the damage has mostly been done. of vertical cropped videos from his Roadrunner will largely satisfy the appetites Instagram posts, which — I realized while watching this of those who want a final taste of Anthony Bourdain, film — will become ever more present in future docubut it’s not a rich multicourse offering, and its relatively mentaries.) Strangely, despite the massive video archive, straight-forward plating won’t be earning any Michelin the movie seems to build its framework around who stars. That said, the literal final action of the movie — they were able to get to sit down for an interview more which involves Choe — is one of the most tremendously than anything else, at times seeming to slow down for fitting ways to cap a documentary you’ll ever see. So individual vignettes. maybe at least stick around for that dessert. n
JULY 15, 2021 INLANDER 105
