Anthony Bourdain's Voice Isn't the Only Thing the New Documentary Faked

The ending of Roadrunner, Morgan Neville's new documentary about the life, career, and 2018 suicide of Anthony Bourdain, packs quite a punch. After exploring the celebrity chef's relationship to fame and how his death affected those closest to him, the film closes on Bourdain peacefully walking into the distance on a beach--or so it seems. A voiceover from Bourdain's friend, artist David Choe, breaks the spell to say that Bourdain himself would hate this saccharine ending. He then criticizes the way society idolizes artists who take their own lives by, for instance, painting their faces on the sides of buildings. A voice behind the camera points out that there are such murals of Bourdain downtown.