Review of The Armstrong Lie (2013) by Leon B — 14 Jan 2016

I loved Alex Gibney's other documentaries and it pains me to write a negative review; however, this documentary just did not rise to the occasion. So much was missing, like what (if any involvement) did Livestrong have with the ongoing cover-up. No mention of "we tried to interview Livestrong" or "we contacted Livestrong but were told..." nada! I remember one single comment in the documentary from someone about Livestrong "being part of the cover-up" but nothing to confirm or deny or to explore that further.

Way too much time of the film was spent on the 2009 footage of Armstrong whining about everything. The time spent on that often repetitious footage should have been used to answer other questions, such as: What impact does doping have on the body and mind?

Was Armstrong doping before he was diagnosed with cancer, and if so, could the doping have impacted that cancer (good or bad)?

What is this lawsuit with fellow-doper Floyd Landis and the government against Armstrong all about?

Why wasn't Landis asked "You lied about not doping for years and then came out of the closet. Was this solely so you could help force Armstrong out of the closet?" There is a lot in common between Landis and Armstrong and this documentary barely touched on that dynamic!

Armstrong (all by himself) comes across as a total schmuck in the documentary (except the scenes where he is with young cancer patients). But there should have been more emphasis on how many people and fans and cancer patients and donors he let down. We don't get that in this documentary and it is a huge void.

Instead of showing clip after clip of the races (which made for excellent cinematography), we should have seen interviews with Livestrong or former Livestrong recipients and/or board members and/or employees; even ONE would have been better than NONE!

We should have seen more details about the lives of fellow racers and their families that Armstrong likely helped to destroy. Viewers get a flavor of what happened from some of the interviews, but it is so edited down that viewers don't really get an accurate idea of how huge the negative impact of Armstrong's lie had on those victims.

We don't hear from the fans either. People like me who don't follow sports, let alone bike racing, looked up to Armstrong because of his foundation and his battle with cancer. I believed in him when he was lying his ass off and defended him on social media at the time, even bought the yellow bracelets in bulk. Interviews with fans would have been a nice addition to this documentary.

This film could have been so much better, especially considering the phenomenal talents of Gibney!