Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef became a world-renowned cultural icon. This unflinching look at Anthony Bourdain reverberates with his presence, in his own voice and in the way he indelibly impacted the world around him.
Roadrunner is a well-crafted documentary portrait of Anthony Bourdain that benefits enormously from the richness of its subject. The storytelling is intimate and emotionally honest, drawing on extensive archival footage and candid interviews with collaborators and friends. The cinematography is competent but functional, relying heavily on pre-existing travel footage rather than distinctive visual direction. The film doesn't reinvent the celebrity documentary form, but Bourdain himself is singular enough to elevate the material. Where the film genuinely earns its keep is in the ending — the raw, unresolved grief surrounding his suicide gives the documentary an unusual emotional weight and moral complexity that lingers long after viewing, refusing easy closure or hagiography.