Movie Notes: Bigger, Stronger, Faster

June 21st, 2008

= 4 stars

Starring Chris Bell, Mark Bell, Mike Bell
Directed by Chris Bell

Synopsis

Chris Bell and brothers Mark and Mike idolized Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hulk Hogan while growing up. Now body builders in their thirties, two have dabbled in steroids, while Chris has avoided them. This documentary is his attempt to understand what makes athletes bend the rules and even cheat in their quest for physical success.

The Good

• A trip to a societal niche I know nothing about — competitive body building, featuring those that strive to get “ripped” and build “six pack abs.” Lots of oiled, buffed, bodies straining to lift hunks of metal while popping supplements and occasionally wielding a syringe.
• Lots of hilarious, retro archival footage including the ripped bodies of Hogan, Schwarzenneger, and Stallone from the Rocky movies.
• Bell is an engaging, receptive interviewer of the various personalities he encounters. Less confrontational than Roger Moore, he elicits everyone’s justifications for bending the rules.
• Lots of colorful characters: the bodybuilder with the largest biceps in the world, a man whose son died after using steroids, and Olympic athlete Carl Lewis. Best are Bell’s immediate family: his two brothers who still dream of being discovered on Venice beach, and his mother. She serves up “you can’t make this stuff up” anecdotes about Chris being the white creamy center of an Oreo cookie with his two brothers on both sides. Huh? Love it.
• An exploration on moral ambiguity — those who justify cheating by saying, “well, everyone else is doing it.” I’ve never subscribed to this line of thinking (the phrase “hollow victory” comes to mind) and found it sadly informative to see the many folks so driven to win, they find any means justifiable.
• Bell carefully expands his soul searching to the American condition — our propensity to pop pills as a solution, and our competitiveness: Bell and his brothers are so driven to win that they find it acceptable to cheat, leaving one wondering what’s so bad about being average — or merely second?

The Bad

• The film does go off on some slightly unnecessary tangents like the steroid-enhanced cow and musicians who take beta-blockers (!). One bon-mot comes when Bell interviews a porn star about his steriod use. His response: “Well, this isn’t exactly a moral industry to begin with.”

Conclusion

Bigger, Stronger, Faster is like a “Supersized Roger And Me” using documentary to present a controversial subject in an entertaining way. At the end of the ride, there are some interesting questions that Bell doesn’t even pretend to have the answers to. He gives us all the information we need to make our own choice regarding steroids: to cheat by “enhancing” ourselves, or take the moral high ground and accept who we are.

IMDB: Bigger, Stronger, Faster
Wikipedia: Bigger, Stronger, Faster
Rotten Tomatoes: Bigger, Stronger, Faster