67
Metascore
37 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangDirector Alex Gibney delivers not just a detailed, full-access account of his subject, in all his defiance, hubris and tentative self-reckoning, but also a layered inquiry into the culture of competitiveness, celebrity, moral relativism and hypocrisy that helped enable and sustain his deception.
- 90Village VoiceChuck WilsonVillage VoiceChuck WilsonTo use a phrase from the film, The Armstrong Lie is a "myth-buster." It's wholly necessary, brilliantly executed, and a complete bummer.
- Succeeds as a probing look into the mechanics of an epic lie, and because of the emotion at its heart.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijThe Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijA quite absorbing but never riveting or revelatory overview of Armstrong’s career and testy personality.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinThe chronology is confusing at times, but the film is never not fascinating.
- 67The PlaylistOliver LytteltonThe PlaylistOliver LytteltonFor all its flaws, the film offers as compelling and fair a summary of the case and the man for those less well-versed in the tale as you could ask for from a documentary.
- 63Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaSlant MagazineKenji FujishimaThe film can't entirely avoid the feeling of a less-productive score-settling hit piece, as if Alex Gibney was making this film merely to stick it to the subject that screwed him big time.
- 60The TelegraphRobbie CollinThe TelegraphRobbie CollinThe film leaves you enlightened and disillusioned, but still furious at Armstrong, who seems to have drawn the conclusion that he is now a tragic hero.
- 60Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfGiven Armstrong’s squirminess on the couch, you’ll wish this profile had traded a portion of its deep background for a little in-the-moment boldness.
- 50The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasThere are mysteries and ambiguities aplenty about Armstrong and the current state of professional cycling, but Gibney has trouble accessing them without getting in his own way.