|
Bigger, Stronger, Faster* (2008) |
| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
|
| Story: |
A |
|
|
| Acting: |
B+ |
|
|
| Direction: |
A- |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A- |
|
|
America obsession with steroids
by brian (movies profile)
Jun 13, 2008
2
of
2 people found this review helpful
On Monday, the Optimist and I went to see an advance showing of "Bigger, Stronger, Faster" This documentary contains most of the needed ingredients for an awesome film: honesty, objectivity and a great subject, with a few decent interviews. Not being a big documentary fan, I am usually very critical of the films I see. For this one though, I can't think of many negative things to say. Director Christopher Bell explores America's win-at-all-cost culture by examining how his two brothers became members of the steroid-subculture in an effort to realize their American dream. The movie takes a sensitive, mostly covered up issue and reveals all the dirty details with brutal honesty. No one seems to be holding back in this one, we hear from both sides in this movie. Those who favor enhancements and those who are opposed to them. You will also find yourself understanding these people and although not agreeing with drug use, seeing them not as "users" or "addicts" but real people who have made some different choices in their lives. The story starts out by giving us details of the three boys lives, where they grew up, their family life, we hear that the boys idolized Hulk Hogan, Rocky and The Arnold. Than it goes into somewhat deep detail describing why two of the boys, Mark and Mike decided to start using steroids. Christopher interviews doctors, steroid users and family members of steroid users. We hear that they are bad, and all of the many side effects of their usages. We hear several doctors say they are bad to use, then we hear several doctors say if used right they are not bad. We are witness to congressional hearings on the subject of steroids in sports, Football, Baseball and even the Olympics. It seems that no athlete is above using steroids. Most claim they are taking them in order to compete with the younger more fit players, who am I to argue, but if I'm paying my money to watch these players compete, I want true competition, with no one player having an advantage over the others. In the last few months we have seen a few documentaries and this one, all in all was one of the best I have seen to date. I give Bigger, Stronger, Faster a 3 and on my avoidance scale I give it a 0. read our blog at theoptimistandthecynic ****.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
My Public Profile 
