Structurally, The Truth vs. Alex Jones looks and sounds like a typical true crime documentary.  Somber cellos play over the opening credits.  Drones provide an aerial view of the town and the site where the crime took place.  Lawyers make confident and or defiant statements in front of microphones.  Photos and home movies of the victims accompany interviews with the grief-stricken surviving family members.  The shocking details of the crime echo in news media coverage.  Prosecuting attorneys and defendants have tense courtroom exchanges.  What distinguishes this documentary from the rest is that its focus isn’t the inciting incident–the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary–but the criminal activity that began in the aftermath of that tragic event.

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Anthony Bourdain epitomized the ethos of his rock-and-roll idols: live life as an adventure, and always tell it like it is.  An admitted former heroin addict in his teens, he was inspired to become a cook while working as a dishwasher.  Roadrunner chronicles Bourdain’s amazing life, which included several successful careers: cook, chef, best-selling author and Emmy-winning host of a popular television show.  Ultimately, Bourdain was a restless soul whose all-consuming quest for experience took him around the world, several times over.  Emotional commentary by family, friends and colleagues help us to understand who Bourdain was, beyond his television persona.  Roadrunner paints a stunning portrait of a larger-than-life person who was loved and appreciated by many, but for some reason never felt it or believed it.  Highly recommended.

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