4/5 Pitchforks
For more than a decade, Lance Armstrong vehemently disputed accusations that he took performance-enhancing drugs.
The professional cyclist became an American hero after surviving cancer and once in remission, consecutively won seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong’s supernatural dominance of the sport raised eyebrows and doping speculations ran rampant, but still Armstrong denied any wrongdoing. “The Armstrong Lie” was meant to document Armstrong’s comeback to Tour de France in 2009, but the story took a new spin once Armstrong’s lifework was stripped upon discovering he doped his way to each victory.
Alex Gibney (“Freakonomics”) produced the documentary and was blindsided by Armstrong’s confession to the systematic doping that took place throughout his career. The producer decided to release the film as a collection of the athlete’s shameless pursuit of power when his comeback turned out to be a sham.
The film begins with footage taken just hours after Armstrong’s highly publicized interview with Oprah in which he tearfully confesses to his lies.
“I certainly was very confident that I would never be caught,” Armstrong said of the ordeal.
Throughout the film his feelings of invincibility are obvious, as he has no qualms about deceiving the world. As a master manipulator, he lies with such conviction that as countless scenes show his documented denial of using drugs, it becomes apparent he believed his own lies. The fabrication, or “story” as he calls it, is long, convoluted and though the 162-minute documentary does its best to uncover the truth, it still only touches the surface of the debacle.
While Armstrong certainly isn’t a paragon of virtue, neither are most of the people featured in the film. His former teammates didn’t come clean about their own use of drugs because of some moral awakening, and only after they were caught did they resent Armstrong for getting away with it and publicly accuse him.
However, what set Armstrong apart was his celebrity status that motivated others to keep his secret. From a doctor with sources at anti-doping labs to circumvent drug testing, to people willingly lying under oath for him, to the wrath he unleashed on opponents that crossed him, in the end, it was this same celebrity status that caused his fall from grace as the World Anti-Doping Agency set out to make an example out of him.
While Armstrong was banned from the sport for life, others that doped only received a six-month suspension.
The film portrays a darker side of Armstrong as well — one that is gratified by humiliating journalists and even his own teammates.
One of the most disheartening scenes is when Armstrong uses his work with the Livestrong Foundation, formerly known as the Lance Armstrong Foundation until the doping was discovered, in his denial of the accusations. Armstrong himself says that was taking it too far (and it was), but the lie wasn’t one he harbored by himself.
It was a well-orchestrated story that, at its core, was meant for monetary gain.
While “The Armstrong Lie” is riveting, it doesn’t exactly accomplish what Gibney sets out to do. Armstrong doesn’t come off as power hungry, but more enamored with the fairytale he constructed. He genuinely seems to want to be the person the world believes him to be. It also appears that he wanted to get caught.
For now, the evocative athlete almost seems relieved to have been exposed: “It’s hard to conceal the truth forever. This has been my downfall.”
Reach the reporter at jurgiles@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @MrsMathers94
