Lance

Does the world really need yet another documentary about disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong? This series is very thorough, and benefits from an unusual frankness from its protagonist. Clearly, Armstrong is, while admitting to his crimes, trying to build the case for his partial rehabilitation; but he seems more honest here than previously, if not necessarily more likeable. He clearly carries resentment that other dopers have been treated less harshly than him; but he was the boss of the peloton, a rich man and a bully with it, who denied everything as aggressively as possible for as long as possible, and there's simply no way sociery could, or should, have given him a free pass. If Lance will now foreover be the poster child for sports doping, he made it so. Armstrong's story is still both an amazing and terrible one, and it's retold here well; he remains an intriguing figure, albeit not a nice one.

Lance - a two part documentary about the rise and fall of seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. I didn't get into cycling until after Armstrong's reign as TDF winner and his infamous confession about doping on the Oprah Wimphrey show. Now - after spending over 3 hours in his company, I don't like the guy. It feels to me as if he's trying to deflect blame for his actions. To allow himself a new career (which is already happening as a cycling commentator on US radio. It feels like that - in his eyes - it is his road to redemption. I didn't know how to articulate how I felt about him until, towards the end of this often compelling doc his former team mate said "there are good people who do bad things, and there are bad people who do good things" and let's the viewer decide which category Lance belongs. My view is that he is a bad person who does bad things and I have zero sympathy for his demise. Yes - I'm sure there are reasons for his 'badness' - such as his tough paternal upbringing - but reasons are not excuses. I hope LA is not welcomed back to the public fray - he's all in it for himself, as I'm sure he's always been. A really interesting watch - 7.5 out of ten

Nice document. It's scary that he still things that Floyd did a wrong thing, when spoke truth?! That's attitude is just horrible. Well lance did good things too, so sometimes bad things can produce something good. He still is bad person in many ways. Not only he cheats but he is talking bad things about other athletes like Sastre. That comment about Sastre was just horrible.

I suspect that Armstrong hoped that this video would help rehabilitate his reputation, but his performance does him no favors. His petulance and self-absorption are on full display. With his deep pockets and his ready access to media, Armstrong tried to ruin the lives of people who he knew were telling the truth; yet he is more concerned in this video with what he imagines to be the world's unfair treatment of him.

"Lance" (2020 release in 2 parts; 205 min.) is a TV documentary about the life and times of Lance Armstrong. As the movie opens, Lance addresses the camera and says "I'm going to tell you my truth". The first question from the director to Lance: "When was the first time you dope?", which seems to take Armstrong by surprise ("so this is how it's going to go, huh?" Armstrong eventually responds it was at age 21). We then go back in time to Lance's upbringing in Plano, TX, and how at age 15 he became a break-out star in triathlon. At this point we are less than 15 min. into the documentary...

Couple of comments: this film is directed by Marina Zenovich, the award-winning documentarian whose previous work includes "Robin WIlliam: Come Inside My Mind" and "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired", just to name those. Here she is granted "all access" to the Lance Armstrong of today, with Lance being forthright to the best of his ability and memory as to what all transpired in his cycling career and beyond. The first part of the documentary takes us through 1999 and includes of course Lance's battle with testicular cancer and his eventual return to cycling while also presiding over the Live Strong non-profit. The second part of the documentary focuses almost exclusively on Lance's fall from grace. If you are a cyclist fan, beware that some, but not a great amount, attention is given to his cycling achievements. You may recall that in 2013, Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney released the documentary "The Armstrong Lie", in the wake of Lance's confession of it all to Oprah Winfrey. So the question is what does "Lance" bring to the table that "The Armstrong Lie" didn't? To be honest, not a great deal. No new revelations of any kind. Yes, Lance is more remorseful than in 2013, but equally more cocky than ever before. Not sure if this documentary will change anyone's mind about Lance the person and/or Lance the cyclist.

"Lance" premiered at this year's Sundance film festival to good acclaim and recently aired on ESPN in its ongoing 30 For 30 series. I quite enjoyed watching this, although it lacks of course the element of shock and dismay when all of this unfolded in 2012013 culminating in the infamous Oprah interview. Still, if you are a fan of cycling and/or of Lance, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion...