Icarus (2017) Reviews

• A deliciously brilliant sucker punch

  garcianc20032017-08-07

  Icarus starts naively enough, like most documentaries with a desire to learn something. A "what if" that could make a good story; perhaps an episode-long piece on "60 Minutes" or "20/20". Bryan Fogel, who directed it, is like a man wanting to learn what is like to be a tiger and, in wanting to get closer to the truth, inadvertently locks himself in the tiger's cage. Icarus is like two stories. The silly, and somewhat egotistical quest of Bryan Fogel to prove that doping is rampant and easy to get away with (duh!) while helping himself win the amateur race that has eluded him for years. It is difficult to find a way to sympathize for any person during this part of the story. Then Bryan meets a very amusing and very cynical Russian scientist named Grigory Rodchenkov, who is going to help him. They talk via Skype frequently, and even their dogs participate. We then go into the obligatory montage of training, preparation, and failures that seems all too familiar. That is, until something changes. There is a marked and brilliant turning point in the movie when Grigory, a smiling and joking class clown up until that point, faces directly at the camera in a Skype conversation with Bryan and asks "have you seen a movie about me?" From that point on, the story's point of view changes from Bryan to Grigory and we learn something that we cannot unlearn, and realize that there is no going back. We learn that Grigory is the real protagonist and we are heading in a very dark and dangerous direction for Grigory, for Bryan, and for those around them. One cannot blame those viewers who, prior to that point, were bored and wondered if this would be yet another expose on how privileged guys like Bryan were cheating the system for a moment of temporary glory and how doping had permeated into the weekend warriors scene. One cannot blame those viewers for walking away (I almost did), if they thought that's where we were going. I am sure that's where Bryan thought he was going too. That is, until the cage locked behind us... What I call the second story in Icarus is based on terror; a terror of the light, not the dark, to borrow a line from Grigory. Real people get killed (allegedly) - this is a documentary, so death is very real. The ride is frantic, claustrophobic, and bitter-sweet. There is an ending but, then again, there isn't one. At the end of the story, we care deeply for Grigory, Bryan, and even Max the dog, and continue to wonder "what if". Icarus is one of the most brilliant documentaries that I have ever seen.

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• Amazing. Rarely write reviews, but best documentary I've seen in years.

  greg-haar2017-08-04

  I almost never write reviews for anything, but after seeing this movie and seeing a completely spiteful, misinformed review from another poster I feel obliged to post. This is an incredibly powerful documentary that had me at the edge of my seat for nearly the entire two hours. Honestly have no idea what movie the other poster was watching or if they're simply bitter or don't enjoy the documentary format, but I highly recommend this to anyone in an interest in sport, current world politics (US/Russia), or conspiracy. Both the director Bryan and protagonist Grigory are engaging and entertaining, and the movie will seriously leave you feeling like you just got a backstage pass to a very recent global conspiracy between Russia and the world.

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• One of the best, if not the best, documentaries that I have ever watched.

  crossfitbilly2017-08-17

  One of the best, if not the best, documentaries that I have ever watched. It is an amazing story about a man who set out to prove one thing and ends up in the middle of one of the most dramatic moments in sports history, complete with shady characters, political giants, and assassinations. This documentary put the documentor in the right place at the right time. Wow, an eleven on a scale of one to ten!

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• Probably the best documentary i've watched

  paulufus2017-08-10

  It has everything, spies, conspiracies, involvement of world leaders, following world events like wars. Seems like a movie or something that was scripted, its exciting, has suspense and drama and other traits that usually in documentaries its hard to truly get. Amazing job and about a very passionate topic SPORTS .

• gripping documentary

  weseda2017-04-27

  I saw this at Sundance 2017, and it blew me away like no other film I saw there. The filmmakers started out on an interesting enough story in worldwide sports, but then uncovered a massive conspiracy beyond their imagining. Very exciting. Highly recommended to anyone who can see this.