Icarus

Icarus is one of the nominees for this year's Best Documentary Feature, and I can't say that it belongs. Directed by Bryan Fogel, who is best known for a play called Jewtopia, it's a bit of a mess. But it does have a great story--the systemic doping by Russian athletes at the Olympics.

The movie begins with Fogel, a dedicated amateur bicyclist, experimenting if he can get away with doping without getting caught. This leads him to different experts, and finally to Grigory Rodchenkov, who was the head of the Russian anti-doping department. But it turns out the anti-doping people were actually doping people.

Rodchenkov is Fogel's ace in the hole, a garrulous and charming rogue. He reveals that almost all Russian athletes were doping, across all sports, and that the okay came from the top--Vladimir Putin (he was embarrassed by the poor showing at the Vancouver games, and wasn't about to have a poor showing in his own country's Sochi). Rodchenkov becomes a whistle blower, flees for his life, and turns over evidence that got Russia banned from the Olympics (they competed at the ongoing Olympics in PyeongChang under the "Olympic Athletes from Russia," but a curler (!) got busted. Some people never learn).

The second half of the film, when Rodchenkov arrives in the U.S. ahead of the FBS (used to be the KGB) is thrilling, like a real-life spy caper. One of Rodchenkov's colleagues has a "heart attack" at 51 and died, althoug he had no history of heart disease. He is under threat of indictment by the FBI (for what I was never clear about) and promises to give them information, but instead goes to the New York Times. The story creates an uproar.

This is great stuff but it wasn't always clearly told. I start with Fogel's initial intention--was he willing to risk being able to race for an experiment? Why exactly does Rodchenkov flip? Many people don't have good things to say about him. What was his epiphany?

Fogel is shown as being clearly besotted with Rodchenkov. They become personal friends, and this certainly seems to have clouded the picture.

I have seen three of this year's documentary nominees, and I found Icarus to be the weakest. Two more to go, though.