The film jumps straight to the point, opening with a frank interview with Armstrong in 2013, mere hours after his Oprah appearance during which he admitted to doping and cheating throughout his entire career. “I didn’t live a lot of lies”, explains the visibly dejected former hero, “but I lived one big one”. Even after being stripped of all titles and publically shamed, Armstrong remains an enigma. Watching him retell his life-story with new-found honesty is a rare treat to behold, with the contrast between his more solemn modern self and the enthusiastic younger version throwing up some big emotional moments. The honesty of director Alex Gibney, who uses voiceover well to establish himself as a character, also creates some interesting paradoxes. Despite having good form covering scandals (having tackled Enron, WikiLeaks and U.S. military torture techniques throughout his career), Gibney openly admits to getting caught up in the hype and becoming blind to the truth when initially following Armstrong during his 2009 Tour de France comeback. Despite having to address facts, figures, whys and wherefores, Gibney’s documentary really excels at focusing in on the smaller elements of the scandal, including pausing to highlight a moment where Armstrong’s posse faked a mechanical failure on the team bus in order to stop and blood dope in front of a huge crowd of fans. In-depth interviews with former team-mates, doctors and rivals ensure that The Armstrong Lie feels hugely well informed and offers the whole truth on the matter, with friend-turned-truth-ouster Frankie Andreu standing out as a particularly engaging, and clearly hugely conflicted, subject. The Armstrong Lie is out on DVD in the UK from June, 2 2014.
