Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

Did You Know?

• CNN aired the documentary on April 10, 2022.
• The film is currently available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime's online video streaming services.

Synopsis

The film mixes old footage with fresh conversations featuring Bourdain’s family, friends, and colleagues, tracing his path from chef to the author of the bestseller Kitchen Confidential and then to a globally recognized host of food and travel programs. While journeying across the world, he grew more conscious of the struggles found in war zones, disaster sites, and poorer nations. Producer and director Tom Vitale notes that the hardest journey was to the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the first season of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. People close to him describe Bourdain as charming and diligent, but also given to mood swings and fixations. His constant travel ended two marriages—first to Nancy Putkoski, then to Ottavia Busia—and meant he was rarely around for his daughter, Ariane. Chef and friend David Chang recalls that Bourdain concealed a darker side behind a cheerful mask and never fully dealt with issues from a past heroin addiction. Artist and fellow addict David Choe suggests Bourdain swapped heroin for an addiction to work. After his split from Busia, Bourdain’s mental state worsened; he wondered about his purpose and made more jokes about dying. He started a relationship with actress Asia Argento, diving in completely, and pushed for her to direct an episode of Parts Unknown, which upset the crew and led to the firing of cinematographer Zach Zamboni. Busia says Bourdain pulled away from her and their daughter. Chang was stung when Bourdain told him he would never be a good father. When Argento disclosed that Harvey Weinstein had raped her, Bourdain backed the MeToo movement with near-fanatical intensity.

Reception

When it hit theaters, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain pulled in $1.9 million across 927 screens, landing in eighth place at the box office and setting a 2021 record for both indie films and documentaries. The following weekend, it stayed strong in the specialty market with $873,000. Critics were largely on board: Rotten Tomatoes shows a 91% approval rating from 150 reviews, averaging 7.8 out of 10, with the site’s consensus calling it an emotionally raw and respectful portrait. On Metacritic, the film scores 78 out of 100 from 39 critics, meaning generally favorable reviews. Audience polling via PostTrak gave it a 94% positive score, with 61% saying they’d definitely recommend it. Variety’s Owen Gleiberman called it an intimate, fascinating portrait and a spiritual investigation into why Bourdain’s life ended, adding that his death was a tragedy with a touch of destiny. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded 3.5 out of 4 stars, describing it as insightful, exhilarating, profound, and sometimes deeply sad. Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter found it an intensely painful documentary, closer to a raw, unhealed wound than anything he’d seen, and said he was more comfortable with it as a portrait of a complicated TV personality than as an attempt to make sense of a man who no longer wanted to live.