Early on in 'Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021)', the director is challenged by an interviewee who asks how he's going to make this documentary considering that Anthony Bourdain ended his own life. The director's response is that he isn't interested in his subject's death, he's interested in what made him the way he was. However, most of the film does, indeed, centre itself on the tragedy that brought Bourdain's life to an end. It spends way too long speculating as to why he did what he did, comes uncomfortably close to laying the blame on Asia Argento and features awkward AI readings of its star's very personal private emails (it's bad enough they're even shared here, never mind that they're read in an approximation of his posthumous voice). Skipping over Bourdain's early career and pre-fame life, the piece barrels head first into an examination of his foray into television and the ways in which his newfound fame didn't always suit him. The picture has an energetic aesthetic that makes good use of stock footage and audio, mixing these with a slick soundtrack and to-camera interviews with those who knew its subject best. It's typically well-paced and remains engaging for its slightly too-long duration. Despite its surface success, though, it does leave a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. This is especially true in retrospect, as its emotional manipulation and lacking morals become more evident the more you think about them. A lot of its interviewees come off in kind of a bad light, and the documentary itself often borders on exploitative. Comments made by the director after the film's release about his use of AI almost erase any of benefit of the doubt you may be tempted to afford him after first realising the documentary isn't quite as ethical as it ought to be. It shouldn't be understated that this is, indeed, an entertaining - albeit increasingly downbeat -experience. It does a good job of keeping you interested in its subject, though you'd be better off watching his actual work, and occasionally it crafts a genuinely touching moment. There's a lot to like about it, but it's hard to fully recommend given its underlying misgivings. The more I think about it, the less I like it. The director's own mission statement - as described during the aforementioned early interview - is missed by a mile, which kind of makes the entire endeavour a failure. Still, it's an entertaining failure. It's decent surface-level stuff, but make sure to watch it with a critical eye. It doesn't do its subject much justice.
