|
large-scale look at American culture. So steroids is cheating, the film says – but what about Tiger Woods' Lasik eye surgery? Or sleeping in a high-altitude chamber before a bicycle race to raise your blog-oxygen level? The film goes beyond steroids to question the prevalence of drugs in non-athletic fields, too: everything from kids passing around Adderall at school to help them finish their work to musicians taking pills before orchestra concerts to help them calm down and focus. The distinction between what does and does not constitute cheating, the film argues, has become impossible to determine.
The film becomes scattershot in its second half – the interview with Marvel creator Stan Lee seemed particularly out of nowhere – but some detours, like the exploration of the supplement industry, are terrific. Thanks to Congressman Orrin Hatch, body-building supplement makers – based largely in his home state of Utah – can throw pretty much anything they want into their pills, not reveal what's actually in them by saying it's a secret formula, and put them on the market without FDA approval. And those Before and After photos in the commercials? They're usually shot on the same day – the model slouches a little, then flexes a little, and Photoshop takes care of the rest.
The film raises a lot of questions but only answers a few, which is a fine approach – it's a film to discuss and argue over. But its central point is terrific: "there is a clash in America," Bell says, "between doing the right thing, and being the best."
Movie Grade: A-
Synopsis:
A documentary filmmaker examines the popularity of steroids in American culture by focusing on his two brothers and their experiences with different performance-enhancing drugs.
|
