The Armstrong Lie

Here is another excellent documentary from Alex Gibney, focusing on one of our era's most fascinating morality tales. I saw another film that was much harsher in its assessment of the great cyclist and cheater Lance Armstong. Gibney had a lot of access to his subject, and his viewpoint is more nuanced. We can see that Armstrong is a complicated man, and that while he clearly lied and connived and meted out revenge to some, he was also a positive presence in many people's lives, and he has done some wonderful charity work. Also, it is important to remember that while Lance was admittedly using banned substances and practices, so was pretty much every other cyclist - they really were all doing it. The film sets out to cover his 2009 attempt at a Tour de France comeback, and ends up doing that and a lot more. As always with Gibney's work, there is some great footage and excellent interviews to take in.

A riveting film from documentary film maker Alex Gibney about 7 times Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong. What started out as a celebration of the man and his achievements became something else entirely when mid production it was revealed that Armstrong had used body enhancing drugs to assist him to those triumphs. The man himself comes over as a paradox, charismatic on one hand, but also Machiavellian and self serving. His life has certainly been eventful, what with his bout with cancer, and one does get a sense that he feels a deep sorrow about the lie that not only crushed him, but also affected the lives of many others. The film pertinently points out that even though his 7 championships were won with the help of drugs, this was in an era when the whole sport was tarnished in this way. It's also interesting to be privy to other smaller corruptions that were taking place on the track, with intense rivalries not just between other teams and individuals, but also between team mates! This is what documentary film making should be all about. It is both Informative and compelling.