Anyone planning on seeing this? UK cinema release today, but only at a limited number of theatres. Know the story, read the books, it might be interesting to see how it’s been dramatized.

My missis wants to go and see it. I’m going to need to know that

A)there’s no positive portrayal of the man and his actions
B)he’s not made any money from it

before I will go. Will need to read a review or two first.

tthew – the review in The Times suggests you will be disappointed… apparently Armstrong is not portrayed as a comic book villain with a lair or anything 🙂
I’m quite looking forward to it but I suspect it won’t be shown in any local cinemas 🙁

Off tonight to watch it. I wonder how O’Dowd will perform as the little Troll. Betsy Andreau has commented positively on some scenes.

On the Trailer I could of sworn it was Joe Mangle from shitcom Neighbours! 🙂

The little Troll? Really?

Mixed reviews !!! Off to see it later .. Bikes and shit I’ll love it 😀

eddiebaby – I wasn’t being discriminatory to Walsh, it was a nasty title used by Armstrong 🙂 I admired his persistence in pursuing him when others doubted his belief.

Wasn’t a great film btw.

I’m assuming that Paul Kimmage has been written out of this particular history.

Joe Mangle from shitcom Neighbours!

Yep. Correct, but not a large part.

Went to see it, was OK, nothing to write home about.

tthew you said b) he’s not made any money from it.

That’s because he’s not taken out a law suit against the makers yet lol

Stephen Frears, the director, was on Start the Week to talk about the film in a piece on power & corruption (Radio 4 iPlayer) I haven’t listened yet but might be worth checking out.

Forget that, I listened, he didn’t give much of an opinion about the subject matter of his own film, don’t bother.

Saw this last night, was well produced, directed and acted but not terribly engaging. It was sympathetic to Armstrong in places and did not convey the extent in which he pursued Betsy Andreau and Emma O’Reilly. Glad I saw it at the local flickhouse for only £6 and pint.

What dramatic tension could you create out of a story like that?

Watched this last night. Bit rubbish really given what should be an intriguing story with some complex characters. Seemed to just want to document the event as quickly as it could with as no time for any background (If someone was to ask me to tell them the Lance story in 60 seconds then the experience would be much like watching this film.) Did seem very sympathetic towards Lance too.

Awful film. Saw it on a recent long haul flight but could only stomach it for 15 mins. They even had Armstrong riding for Motorola when he got cancer when in fact he was riding for Cofidis. Chris O’Dowd is a useless actor and was especially useless as David Walsh.

They also had him training with Ferrari before he won the first tour riding a bike with an external hollowtech BB, which I don’t think came out till 2004. Poor attention to detail.

I do wonder what I’d have made of the film had I not been very familiar with the story and the detail. A lot of the story snippets would seem quite random and inconsequential in the context of the film.

riding a bike with an external hollowtech BB, which I don’t think came out till 2004. Poor attention to detail.

Not sure if srs or not…… 😐

ding a bike with an external hollowtech BB,

spotted that too… but not 100% sure there was nothing else at the time, but unlikely.

I came to the conclusion it was not really meant for those that followed the story too closely and just settled for a film aimed at people who wondered what was going on but CBA reading David Walsh, Tyler Hamilton and all the rest.

Not sure if srs or not……

🙂

Do wonder if there was a much better film left on the floor of the editing suite. Also got the feeling that the script was treading a very carefully to avoid any legal consequences.

It’s been a while since I saw it but it leaves out most career and character destruction by Lance of his colleges, which was almost as vigorous as the doping program. For me the real story was there. Stephen Frears said in his R4 interview he would have liked to include more of this but would have made the film too long, so instead it’s ended up more of a biopic. Frears didn’t seem to have a strong opinion of Lance good or bad either I think this shows in the film. Perhaps it would have been better if someone else made it, Oliver Stone?

riding a bike with an external hollowtech BB, which I don’t think came out till 2004. Poor attention to detail.

maybe it was a motor…

I saw it a while back, good story but poor film.

They even had Armstrong riding for Motorola when he got cancer when in fact he was riding for Cofidis.

He had SIGNED for Cofidis before he was diagnosed but wasn’t riding for them

I’m 2/3rds the way through it but had to turn it off to go do something else..

Don’t tell me the ending!!!

Oliver Stone?

Jan Ulrich, earlier…

Don’t tell me the ending!!!

If you knew nothing other than what was in the film you’d think the worst thing that happened to him was being dropped by Nike.