Susan Granger’s review of ‘Roadrunner: A Film about Anthony Bourdain” (Focus Features)
Three years after the irreverent, globe-trotting celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain committed suicide at age 61, many are still wondering why. Renown documentarian Melville Norville (“20 Feet from Stardom,” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”) has tackled this difficult subject.
With scathing honesty, Norville vividly depicts a hedonistic, deeply troubled man, chronicling candid, often insightful stories from Bourdain’s chums David Chang, Eric Ripert, Iggy Pop, John Lurie, Josh Homme, Allison Mosshart and others.
After dropping out of college and, admittedly, doing lots of cocaine and heroin, charismatic, chain-smoking Bourdain first found success in 2000, publishing “Kitchen Confidential,” a cynical tell-all about life in the restaurant industry and what really goes on in the kitchens.
A gifted storyteller, he then went on to write other books and host shows for the Food Network, Travel Channel and CNN. On June 18, 2018, the day Bourdain hanged himself, he was in Strasbourg, France filming an episode for “Paris Unknown.”
Admittedly, Norville skims over Bourdain’s early years since his first wife (of 20 years) refused to participate; however, his second wife, Ottavia Busia, with whom he had a daughter, took part.
While those who knew him were stunned, many were not surprised since addictive, sensation-seeking Bourdain was haunted by bouts of depression, often finding himself with no one to talk to, particularly after the abrupt breakup- of his passionate romance with #MeToo movement spokesperson Asia Argento.
Years earlier, Bourdain told “Biography”: “I should’ve died in my 20s. I became successful in my 40s. I became a dad in my 50s. I feel like I’ve stolen a car – a really nice car – and I keep looking in the rearview mirror for flashing lights.”
FYI: For a few scenes, Morgan Neville utilizes simulations of Bourdain’s voice using “deepfake technology” to create an eerie A.I. model of his speech, intercutting clips of Bourdain narrations from radio, TV, podcasts and audiobooks.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Roadrunner” is an absorbing, perceptive, empathetic 7, showing in theaters and streaming on Prime Video, Vudu and Fandango.
