Morgan Neville’s Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain dives deep into the enigma that was the globe-trotting chef-raconteur, who died by suicide in 2018. Many members of Bourdain’s inner circle sat for the two-hour film from Focus Features and CNN Films (out July 16), which The Hollywood Reporter critic Daniel Fienberg calls “closer to the center of a raw … wound.”
It raises the question of whether too much collective blame was put on Asia Argento, Bourdain’s girlfriend. She emerged as a villain of sorts in the wake of his suicide for rumored infidelity. In Neville’s film, some of Bourdain’s friends still view her as such, but Argento — a prominent #MeToo activist who wound up facing accusations of sexual misconduct with a minor to whom she reportedly paid a settlement of $380,000 — was never approached to be in Roadrunner.
Asked by THR why Argento didn’t tell her side of the story, Neville says, “We considered every aspect of Asia’s story but found that the more we opened the door on it, the deeper the complexity and the less insight the film had.”
THR reached out to a rep for Argento and has yet to hear back.
This story first appeared in the July 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
