Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

[DanaK]

Quote

A 2021 American documentary film directed and produced by Morgan Neville. It follows the life and career of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.

Premiering on CNN on Sunday, March 6 at 9pm ET

[DanaK]

Delayed to Sunday March 13 due to coverage of Ukraine https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/cnn-delays-original-series-stanley-tucci-anthony-bourdain-1235193857/

[blueray]

I just watched this on Amazon. It was 5 dollars to rent but no commercials. Anyhow, I thought it was well done. I totally cried at the end though.

[DanaK]

Ironically, this got preempted on CNN for breaking news. I don’t know when they plan to show again and it’s not on streaming yet except as a rental or purchase

[DanaK]

According to the Futon Critic, CNN will make another attempt to show this on April 10

[DanaK]

This will start streaming on HBO Max on June 9

[CherryMalotte]

I love this doc, but it's so sad to watch.

[DanaK]

Quite good and yes, sad. Bourdain certainly seemed like a depressive sort most of his life and it seemed like just a matter of time before he took his life (assuming he didn’t make any attempts when he was younger). I got the feeling towards the end of his series that he was giving off vibes that he didn’t really want to do the show anymore but watching the doc, that seemed like his usual demeanor. It was sad how much his suicide affected others around him and it’s hard to say if they could have seen enough to stop him and get him help

[SunnyBeBe]

I was a little surprised by some of Tony’s behavior.  It seemed he could turn cold pretty quick.  Now No one is perfect, but I sort of wish I hadn’t seen the film.  

Edited August 17, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[aghst]

I didn’t watch a lot of the Bourdain shows.  An episode here and there.

He certainly could turn a word.

Apparently when those producers convinced him to do the show they were surprised by how little he had traveled.  I don’t know if he ever pretended to have a lot of travel experience.  But I guess his book made people believe that he had this wisdom from having lived a full life.

Again I haven’t watched enough of the show to tell if there’s a big stylistic difference between the early voiceovers which the producers wrote to the later ones where he was at least heavily editing if not writing the whole thing.

In a way the fact that he had limited travel experience could make it more interesting, that he’s seeing these places as a novice.  They didn’t say much about the process they used for choosing places to go.  Tony told them he wanted to go to the Congo because he loved Apocalypse Now, which was based on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

Tony alluded to how they were encouraged to go to Beirut which was supposedly coming back as a destination and then when they arrive, hostilities break out.

I knew the shows were well known, even the Travel Channel shows, but I didn’t realize that he was such  big celebrity.  Looks like he succumbed to it, choosing to spend 250 days out of the year traveling rather than stay at home with his young daughter, which he claimed made him the happiest.

Then at the end, giving his girlfriend all that power and firing long-time collaborators and crew members.

I don’t know how many episodes or episodes per season he produced.  Other travel hosts are making 5-8 it seems, which prevents their shows from dominating their lives, the way Bourdain’s shows seem to have consumed his life.