ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

negativeyoda We all know the story and this movie doesn't really add anything worthwhile or insightful to the story. Armstrong is portrayed as an ego-maniacal fraud who only becomes a decent cyclist after discovering EPO (despite the fact that a pre-doped Lance starts the film in the rainbow world champion jersey) and Floyd Landis is portrayed as the innocent fall guy who brings Lance down after he's been betrayed. The way the story is told, Lance and his team are the only ones with access to EPO and Dr. Ferrari's doping know-how. Without getting too mired down in specifics, cheating and specifically doping has long been (and continues to be) a problem in sports in general is glossed over throughout the run time of this film. Most of Lance's main rivals were also clients of Dr. Ferrari (and others such as Dr. Fuentes). If Lance's team were the sole cheaters, why were his stripped titles never awarded to the runners- up?Lance was pretty despicable in his actions and the film lays that out pretty clearly. The film lost many opportunities to tell the whole story of that era. Where were Pantani and multiple runner-up Uhlrich? What about the Cofidis team firing Lance after he was diagnosed with cancer? What about the top riders being barred on the eve of the 2006 tour which allowed Landis to ride against a depleted field?Perhaps most who don't follow cycling won't be bothered by these omissions, but they add to the story and would have added some much needed grey area or tension to an otherwise painfully straightforward film devoid of any real character arc. Instead we end up with Lance going the Reefer Madness route after taking a hit of EPO before a confusing set of events forces him to confess.

typhoon74 If you have watched this movie, or thinking about it, its probably because you are more than average interested in the Lance Armstrong story. And then again if you are, you have probably watched the documentaries as well - and they are far better than this movie. For example "Stop at Nothing The Lance Armstrong Story" - which this movie seem to be a poor copy of. Its as if they watched that documentary and thought "hey, this is a great story, lets make a movie about it!". Just too bad the story was already told in a far better way, with the real people involved.Say what you want about Ben Foster, but all the scenes he was involved in in this movie has already been done by Lance himself in the documentaries. And what could possibly beat that?The only thing that impressed me about this movie was Jesse Plemons. He actually looked like a pro biker. Unless he was photo shopped!Watch the documentaries instead, this is a waste of time.

SnoopyStyle It's 1993 and Lance Armstrong (Ben Foster) is in his first Tour in France. Irish sports journalist David Walsh (Chris O'Dowd) is both following and rooting for the competitive new American wonderboy. After initial losses, he and his teammates start using enhancements. The team starts winning but then he's diagnosed with cancer. After his tiring treatments, he gets help from Dr. Michele Ferrari who is experimenting outside the ethical lines. Bill Stapleton (Lee Pace) organizes the deal with US Postal. Walsh starts to suspect that something is amiss. God-fearing Floyd Landis (Jesse Plemons) is hired to help Armstrong and he takes over after Lance. Betsy Andreu recounts a moment with Armstrong and her husband. Armstrong decides to defend against his detractors by attacking them.Despite the great actors and solid work, this still has a biopic feel in the structure of the movie. It follows the story faithfully. The truthfulness seems to be there. Ben Foster does nice work inhabiting the role although I'm not sure if it dives into his mind enough. It would be helpful to add something from before his Tour and doping life. Walsh's crusade is more compelling. The second half of the movie is more compelling. It is generally missing the drama and the thrills. I'm also not certain if this gets any special insight into Armstrong's character. It's a functional biopic but the material is ready for much more.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. The fallen king. The disgraced idol. We expect there to be more to the story of Lance Armstrong, but the bottom line is really pretty simple. Lance Armstrong is a liar. Lance Armstrong is a fraud. The movie offers little in the way of excuses or explanations, and you'll likely think even less of Armstrong after the movie … if that's even possible.Ben Foster turns in a nice performance and is believable as Lance the cyclist, Lance the teammate, and Lance the doper. But even Foster can't quite capture the public façade or reach the level of deception that the real life Lance maintained for years. Chris O'Dowd is spot on as David Walsh, the sportswriter who wrote the book on which the film is based, "Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong". In fact, the movie would likely have been more interesting had it focused on Walsh's research and pursuit, rather than re-hashing the all too familiar Armstrong deceit.Director Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity, The Grifters) works with the screenplay from John Hodge (Trainspotting) and we see how Lance battled through testicular cancer and later sought out Dr. Ferrari (Guillaume Canet) – the Godfather of blood doping. We get many shots of the familiar yellow jersey during numerous Tour de France races, and we hear Lance pontificate on what sets him apart: desire, hunger, heart and soul, and guts. Later we hear his proclamation of innocence followed by "I'm the most tested athlete on the face of the planet".Jesse Plemons ("Breaking Bad", "Fargo") has slimmed down and plays the crucial role of Floyd Landis – a devout Mennonite, Lance teammate, and the final straw in the crumbling of an empire. It's Landis who broke "the silence around cycling", and forced an industry and the public to accept what most of us hoped against all hope wasn't true.Armstrong's infamous "Oprah" appearance and public admission brought poignancy to his own words: "We are the authors of our life stories." Perhaps this lesson is as valuable as all the money Livestrong raised for cancer research. Picturesque Hamilton Pool in Austin makes an appearance, as do songs from The Ramones, The Fall ("Mr. Pharmacist") and Leonard Cohen. While the film is not at the level of Alex Gibney's documentary "The Armstrong Lie", it is a reminder that real life can be more dramatic and devastating than the movie version.