The Armstrong Lie

Alex Gibney started shooting in 2009 to document Lance Armstrong's return to cycling, and what he had was a comeback story. Four years later Armstrong confessed to doping and the director had to rebuild his own film. The result is two films laid over each other: the camera photographs a hero first, and then the same footage becomes evidence. The best thing about it is that Gibney puts his own credulity inside the story. Armstrong is still negotiating in the interviews and it is never clear where the contrition stops. Alongside sits the other side of the story: people accused of lying for years and had their careers ended. The subject is not doping but the industry built around a lie. Who it is for: viewers who like sports documentary and stories of institutional cover-up. Who it is not for: anyone unfamiliar with cycling, since some sections drown in detail.