Bigger Stronger Faster*

Bigger, Stronger, Faster*" has a surprisingly light but also personal touch, especially when the director brings his own family's steroids pressures into the discussion. Unlike other documentarians who put themselves front and center in a movie, Bell clearly likes some of his subjects and is willing to at least listen to bodybuilders and other people who want to defend performance-enhancing drugs. ... Full Review

And as the entertaining documentary Bigger Stronger Faster* correctly points out, Americans are inundated with images of perfect looking physiques in magazines, movies, and on television. Perhaps most interesting is Bell's assertion that steroids are engrained in our very language, with the phrase "it's on steroids" universally understood in our culture as-well, bigger, stronger, and faster. ... Full Review

Bell's movie is smart and entertaining, but one suspects he could've found a bigger, stronger story had he chased that steroid money trail. Bell manages to take his personal issue and extrapolate it into a discussion worth having. ... Full Review

Bigger, Stronger, Faster" is one of the best films of 2008. Chris challenges the most basic assumptions most of the public has about steroids: that they are bad for you, and that they constitute "cheating. ... Full Review

Bell's documentary may not change that status, but if anyone wants to have a serious discussion about the entire supplement situation, this excellent film is a good place to start. Bell believes, rightfully or wrongfully, that steroids are immoral. ... Full Review

it's genuinely impressive.....the movie is full of jokes, many of them very funny....expertly constructed documentaries I've seen in some time.....his vision of how their story fits into his broader narrative is so lucid....The Side Effects of Being American is one of the most elegant.... ... Full Review

Bigger, Stronger, Faster is also valuable because it anticipates weightier debates on related topics (gene doping, stem-cell therapy and cloning) where scientific and medical innovation intersects with public and private morality. ... Full Review

Some of the characters in this space are simply quite laughable. Balancing the the various eye-opening moments, including a particularly baffling scene with Congressman Henry Waxman (a key player in the baseball hearings), are smooth, unprompted moments of comedy. ... Full Review

But though Bell tracks down an unusually colorful lineup of talking heads and archival footage, he never veers too far from his own brothers and sympathetic parents, who keep "Bigger, Stronger, Faster," so relatably and affectingly down-to-earth. OPENS: Friday, May 30 (Magnolia Pictures) A documentary with both brains and brawn, "Bigger, Stronger, Faster*" provides a lively and incisive look into the nation's growing preoccupation with pumped-up superlatives. ... Full Review

Bigger, Stronger, Faster" is surprisingly funny and also incredibly insightful as Bell has really done his homework on the subject. It's because in America, we like our heroes to be "Bigger, Stronger, Faster. ... Full Review