Tony T
11-08-2013, 09:54 AM
...but most won't:
WSJ: 'Armstrong': The Lie Will Out (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303309504579183700974712502?mod=WS J_hps_MIDDLE_Video_Top)
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/AR-AE135_FilmAr_G_20131107120733.jpg
When Alex Gibney started production on "The Armstrong Lie," his grimly fascinating documentary about Lance Armstrong, his working title was "The Road Back." That was in 2008,
But the work in progress changed when, early this year, Armstrong admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he had been doping all along. The filmmaker retooled his film accordingly, and retitled it "The Armstrong Lie." He might also have called it "The Tooth Fairy," since part of the fascination is why we ever believed the story the pedaler was peddling.
Lance Armstrong, the movie notes, came out of Plano, Texas as an angry, competitive kid: "I love beatin' people," the kid says, putting it plainly, if mildly.
Was he nothing more than a compulsive liar? Mr. Gibney's footage suggests otherwise. One of the most interesting parts of the film turns on the evident sincerity of Armstrong's postretirement attempt to win the 2009 Tour de France by riding clean. He failed, though his third-place finish was, as the filmmaker puts it, "the perfect ending for the film I wanted to make."
"The Armstrong Lie" wears thin before it's over; the wafer-thin nature of the cyclist's personality can't sustain a two-hour running time. Toward the end, though, there's a revelatory moment that requires close attention. It's in one of the clips from the Winfrey interview, after Armstrong has confessed. "Did you feel in any way that you were cheating?" Oprah asks. He nods his head almost imperceptibly, meaning yes, and says "No." At least one of his reflexes is still sharp.
WSJ: 'Armstrong': The Lie Will Out (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303309504579183700974712502?mod=WS J_hps_MIDDLE_Video_Top)
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/AR-AE135_FilmAr_G_20131107120733.jpg
When Alex Gibney started production on "The Armstrong Lie," his grimly fascinating documentary about Lance Armstrong, his working title was "The Road Back." That was in 2008,
But the work in progress changed when, early this year, Armstrong admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he had been doping all along. The filmmaker retooled his film accordingly, and retitled it "The Armstrong Lie." He might also have called it "The Tooth Fairy," since part of the fascination is why we ever believed the story the pedaler was peddling.
Lance Armstrong, the movie notes, came out of Plano, Texas as an angry, competitive kid: "I love beatin' people," the kid says, putting it plainly, if mildly.
Was he nothing more than a compulsive liar? Mr. Gibney's footage suggests otherwise. One of the most interesting parts of the film turns on the evident sincerity of Armstrong's postretirement attempt to win the 2009 Tour de France by riding clean. He failed, though his third-place finish was, as the filmmaker puts it, "the perfect ending for the film I wanted to make."
"The Armstrong Lie" wears thin before it's over; the wafer-thin nature of the cyclist's personality can't sustain a two-hour running time. Toward the end, though, there's a revelatory moment that requires close attention. It's in one of the clips from the Winfrey interview, after Armstrong has confessed. "Did you feel in any way that you were cheating?" Oprah asks. He nods his head almost imperceptibly, meaning yes, and says "No." At least one of his reflexes is still sharp.