The Armstrong Lie

"The world wanted to believe him. So did the camera."

2013 2h 4m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 141

Documentary

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In 2009, Alex Gibney was hired to make a film about Lance Armstrong's comeback to cycling. The project was shelved when the doping scandal erupted, and re-opened after Armstrong's confession. The Armstrong Lie picks up in 2013 and presents a riveting, insider's view of the unraveling of one of the most extraordinary stories in the history of sports. As Lance Armstrong says himself, "I didn't live a lot of lies, but I lived one big one."

“The world wanted to believe him. So did the camera.”

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Cast

Lance Armstrong
Self
Betsy Andreu
Self
Frankie Andreu
Self
Reed Albergotti
Self
Johan Bruyneel
Self
Daniel Coyle
Self
Michele Ferrari
Self
Michael Bloomberg
Self (archive footage)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Alex Gibney
Writers: Alex Gibney
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 13 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CRAFT

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Alex Gibney, shot by Maryse Alberti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Kahne. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Andy Grieve shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Lance Armstrong and Betsy Andreu and Frankie Andreu carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The world wanted to believe him. So did the camera.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1638364 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alex Gibney directs. Maryse Alberti behind the camera. David Kahne scores. Andy Grieve cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 13 years ago.
2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
3Directed by Alex Gibney, shot by Maryse Alberti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by David Kahne. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Andy Grieve shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Lance Armstrong and Betsy Andreu and Frankie Andreu carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The world wanted to believe him. So did the camera.".
8IMDB entry: tt1638364 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 13 themes, including "doping", "interview", "outcast", "behind the scenes".

The technical file

Cinematography: Maryse Alberti
Original score: David Kahne
Editing: Andy Grieve
Runtime: 124 min · 2h 4m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $383,294
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Armstrong Lie (2013)

Also by

Alex Gibney

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-09-20
★ 6/10
There must have been something of the poacher-cum-gamekeeper with Alex Gibney's role on this film. Originally employed to craft something far more celebratory about this seven time Tour de France winner whom he much respected in 2009, he found himself tasked - still by Armstrong - with making something altogether different. Now we are to watch a critical dissection of a legend. A liar, a cheat and a fraudster or just a mortal under enormous amounts of pressure who reacted as any of us might? An addict for success, adrenalin, control? There's not so much cycling here - perhaps ASO and/or the UCI didn't want to licence too much archive to it, but what there certainly are are interviews a-plenty with people who allegedly knew all along about his performance-enhancing habits but who either kept schtum at the time or risked his wrath by speaking out and never working in the sport again. It's another documentary that illustrates just how ineffective WADA is when it comes to policing drugs in sport and at how effective the pharmacists are at finding new substances and disguising them when lucrative paydays are never far away. Betsy and Frankie Andreu probably provide the most damning elements of the case for the prosecution; that is except for the man himself who even now still looks at the camera, straight-faced, and expects to be believed as if butter wouldn't melt. Perhaps because of the global outpouring of sympathy focused on this man when he had cancer, it seems almost inconceivable that he could have been habitually lying to everyone and been so disrespectful of those he inspired, motivated and who ultimately helped him pay for his home in Aspen and after the first hour I found it quite difficult to look at Armstrong without disdain. As a piece of cinema, this isn't especially provocative though, and if you were at all interested in cycling and/or read the journalism around the end of the naughties, then this doesn't really tell us anything that we didn't ready know. It is interesting to watch Gibney's approach to his subject matter alter as the truth comes out, but the film is far too long and in the end serves more like an attempt to analyse the exploitation of the willing and the media that it points any smoking guns at him or an establishment who largely didn't take part.

Production companies