{"id":3229,"date":"2013-12-13T06:08:52","date_gmt":"2013-12-13T13:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=3229"},"modified":"2013-12-13T06:08:52","modified_gmt":"2013-12-13T13:08:52","slug":"review-the-armstrong-lie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=3229","title":{"rendered":"Review: THE ARMSTRONG LIE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>This documentary could be retitled \u201cThe Gibney Apology.\u201d In 2009, filmmaker Alex Gibney (2007 Oscar winner for \u201cTaxi to the Dark Side\u201d) set out to chronicle Lance Armstrong\u2019s comeback. Of course, when the doping story finally broke wide, Gibney\u2019s documentary was ruined. Or was it? \u201cThe Armstrong Lie\u201d is an attempt to salvage that project, which, of course, goes in another direction.<\/p>\n

It is obvious that Gibney was in quite a pickle when the film he thought he was making fell apart. His investors must have been devastated. One wonders what contract Gibney had with the super-secretive and protective Lance Armstrong, who is now notorious for crushing those who \u201cratted\u201d on him. It is doubtful that Armstrong and his team of lawyers permitted complete unfettered access to the fallen star even before the revelations and confirmation following his \u201ccomeback.\u201d But \u201cThe Armstrong Lie\u201d does seem to capture some of the ugly side of the sportsman, while still giving him something of a soapbox to spin his position.<\/p>\n

What is Armstrong\u2019s defense? He argues at some point that he didn\u2019t meet a definition of cheating, because, in doping, he was not doing anything other than what others were doing. The playing field was therefore level. Sure, Armstrong is slowly changing his tune, but it is a bit off-key.<\/p>\n

Gibney tries in vain to get to the heart of the story. Probing questions get answered, but most viewers won\u2019t be satisfied. And like the Oprah interview, the whole thing feels insincere and incomplete. <\/p>\n

As a documentary filmmaker who greatly admires Gibney, I feel his pain. But as Gibney well knows some stories are discovered as they are reported and shot. What is somewhat troubling is that Gibney has devoted so much screen time to humanizing Armstrong. And this portion of the film is downright inspiring stuff! <\/p>\n

But if Armstrong were a serial killer, for example, this would be the film that focuses on the murderer instead of the victims. In this time of mass shootings, we see a shift in news reporting away from the glorification of the monster. It is this glorification that the monster and others with such potential ultimately seek. Gosh, I have no idea what I would have done in Gibney\u2019s position. After all, he had so much footage with Armstrong, and Armstrong had continued to grant him access as the Oprah interview took place and beyond. <\/p>\n

Gibney\u2019s decision is to focus on Armstrong, with little time devoted to his victims. Armstrong is both propped up and vilified in \u201cThe Armstrong Lie.\u201d We do get that there is no true justification for Armstrong\u2019s actions, but that message is watered down a bit. The unanswered question is whether doping matters when it may be a part of the sport. Unfortunately, Gibney can\u2019t seem to turn that corner and give us a story that does little more than establish the positions and background. <\/p>\n

Perhaps this film was made too soon. Armstrong has a long way to go before he comes clean. And the movie hints that such a thing may never happen. And when he finally does tell it all, will anyone care to listen?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan examines filmmaker Alex Gibney’s dilemma…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3229"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3234,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229\/revisions\/3234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}