The Armstrong Lie
Image: Courtesy of Alex Gibney
The Armstrong Lie provides an insider’s view into the downfall of Lance Armstrong. The legendary cyclist was stripped of his titles in 2012 after admitting he took performance enhancing drugs.
“There have been two opposing narratives,” confesses Armstrong at the beginning of the documentary- and he claims he will deliver the true one.
In a montage of news footage and interviews, the present-day Armstrong is juxtaposed with the man of the past. This allows for a fascinating exploration into his motivations for cheating and how this was undertaken. While this creates a strong narrative pull, it loses momentum as the film progresses to the events around his 2009 comeback.
The interviews with Armstrong decline and the audience never really hears his “true narrative”.
However, the ingenuity of this film is the dismantling of the Armstrong myth and the masks that helped create it. MP
****
Limited Release
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