6/10: A soft release of doping in a shattered shell

6/10
-2: To little melo-drama, too little focus and real information about systemic corruption.

[Disclaimer]
I was not going to watch this because by the trailer and other information I knew the systematic doping going on in the world of cycling would not get into the limelight (there was a massive amount of articles and exposes around this during the last 2 decades, so if you want clarity or proof - make a search and start reading or head over to your local library and make an archive search and start reading - there is plentyful).

[Movie Review]
The movie is shattered in to many directions, the style of the cinematography is quite allright as it partly simulates cycling really well.
The trailer scenes are not as well made. Sound could have been a little better, especially the backdrop.
Ben Foster makes an excellent performance and so does some of the supporting cast including O'Dowd (though the moment he gets left behind is to realistic - some melodrama would have been more suitable). Dustin Hoffman shows up in a too small, badly fitting part for an actor his size detracting from the movie.
It a watchable movie but it could have been alot stronger if it dared to question the system more and would focus on the rise and fall of Armstrong more.

*The story implies systematic doping going on and shows one antidoping controllant not investigating Armstrong, it does not show that the majority (not all) are on these measures and that it is hidden not only be athletes in as large manner as it is.

Pro's
• Cast
• Alot of the cycling scenes
• Atleast implying that the doping is systemic (even though it light up Armstrong as some big Spider in the middle of the web while he is a small fly in comparison to those who are supposed to uphold the sports value but instead helps corruption fester).
• The visualisation of guilt being felt and how the individuals rationalised it,
it's naive but it is also a probably common way to rationalise.

Con's
• The notion Lance Armstrong is some kind of mastermind behind the doping scene. Not only that they put him forth as if he made the sport what it is, which mostly French and Italians did.
• Shattered plotline
• The trailer (read; veichle) scenes (some proper weather to give them a better environment would have been good).
• Time - it felt like too much has been wildy cut too short, it could easily have been a 3 hour movie and that would also been possible to carry with Ben Foster as the lead and the cast they had.
• They try to illustrate how important winning is for him, but it could have been done better with more time on greater emotional ups and downs.

*Noteworthy
Blood-doping is explained someone well.

*Noteworthy
The USADA Reasoned Decision document, the most comprehensive investigation into sports doping ever produced, was invaluable to the making of this film.
-Can anyone substantiate that it is?


[Comment about the IMDb board regarding this movie]
[Movie seems to be getting scrubbed and the popularity was up 943% during the last week for the movie. So something "fun" is going on behind the scenes here.]
https://imgur.com/delete/6e7TOcpoey8YbVD - Hopefully they're simply cleaning out astroturfers etc, but as the message board seems to be completely cleaned out i doubt it - probably some new admin or someone hacking who's FUBAR'd it for one reason or the other.

[EDIT] Spelling.

Ignorance is only a bliss if you haven't reached awareness.
My imdb posts are getting altered.