Bigger, Stronger, Faster* [Import]

"Bigger, Stronger, Faster", the new documentary from Chris Bell, and produced by many of the people who have worked on Michael Moore's documentaries, is a very entertaining, level-handed look at the use of steroids in America.

"Bigger" is better than your average documentary for two key reasons. Chris Bell is a likable, very real guy and he guides us through this maze of information much like he probably learned about it in the first place, giving us an in depth look into the use of steroids and how they have affected both the practice and perception of sports in America, and to a lesser extent, the world.

The second, and perhaps more important reason this film sticks out is because it comes from a personal place in Chris' life. As he quickly explains during the beginning of the film, he was the middle of three children, all boys, who grew up with a loving, overweight mother and a loving, but busy with work father. In an attempt to stand out from the rest of the kids, each of the brothers decides to take up weight lifting and try to become famous as wrestlers, hoping to follow the likes of their heroes, Hulk Hogan, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the limelight. They each transform their chubby bodies into bulky muscle powerhouses, but the fame is still fleeting.

Chris' older brother, Mark, actually makes it into the WWE, but his role is that of the guy who always gets beaten up by the more powerful and more famous wrestlers. He doesn't last long. So he starts to take steroids.

Chris decides the way to make it into the limelight is to move to Southern California, to be closer to the action, and the auditions. He naturally ends up at Venice Beach and gets a job working in Gold's Gym, the place made famous by many weightlifters and body builders, by Schwarzenegger and Stallone. In a particularly telling moment, Chris speaks with one of the gym members, a man well past his prime who continues to work out at the gym, and lives in his small van in the gym parking lot. You can tell from the expression on Chris' face he sees the similarities between them as he looks at the guys living quarters. You can almost see him pray that he won't end up in the same situation; homeless, working out, continuing to hope for stardom.

Chris' younger brother, Mike, had development problems growing up, so he decided to follow his other brothers into weightlifting and bodybuilding. This focus clearly helped him to improve his life and his attention to detail, but he also decides to try to improve the workouts through the use of steroids.

Chris knows his brothers use steroids, but he has stayed away from them. He wonders why one of three children would feel the need to do things the 'right' way, the harder way, and stay away from the drugs? This is what leads him on the journey through this documentary.

The best scenes involve Chris and his family. On a visit home, he talks to his mom, a perfectly likable, overweight, middle-aged woman who spends her life as a stay-at-home mom. As they talk, she makes a batch of her famous bar cookies for a local high school sports team. It is unclear why she still makes these for the local high school, but it is clear the bars are both very good and not low fat. Chris claims his mother doesn't know that his brother use steroids. She may not admit it, but you can tell she knows. Late in the film, Chris has dinner with his brothers and mom and dad and steers the conversation towards steroids, hoping that his brothers will finally admit it to their parents. Mom asks a few questions, giving the brothers an opportunity to come clean. But they keep their secret. And so does mom.

As he meets with and talks to his brothers, we learn each of their stories and they couldn't be more different.

But Chris also seeks to understand the influence of steroids throughout sports. He speaks with many people, both pro and con, amateur and professional, and it appears that everyone is using some sort of enhancement. As the tagline for the film states "if everyone is doing something, can it be illegal?"

He talks about how heartbroken he was when he learned Hulk Hogan was using steroids, despite all of the famous wrestler's encouragement to get bigger through hard work. He talks about former NFL player Lyle Alzado's sickness, which the NFL Player attributed to the use of steroids. Interestingly, the footage from an interview used in the film features Maria Shriver in her pre-Mrs. Ahnuld career. He talks about Stallone and interviews both Carl Lewis and Floyd Landis. These moments, interspersed with graphics, and other amusing methods of presenting the message, combined with the personal side of the story, make for compelling viewing.

There are also a few scenes from an old after school special featuring Ben Affleck dealing with the side effects of using steroids. These scenes provide a welcome moment of laughter because they are so over the top and heavy handed.

I think Chris may have actually found his entry into the limelight. I could easily see him parlaying this film into a television series or series of specials, ala Morgan Spurlock. They have similar personalities and Spurlock has made a number of films and season 3 of "30 Days", the series of documentaries he makes for FX is currently airing. Chris is an extremely pleasant, likable person who clearly listens to his subjects, whatever their position, taking everything in. As he presents both sides of the argument, he appears to be genuinely interested in what they have to say, waiting for them to finish and for his mind to process before forming an opinion of his own.

3.8 stars

Chris Bell succeeds here when he keeps things personal. Describing his youthful worship of Ahnold and Sly, talking with his brothers about their steroid use, detailing the collapse of his dream of moving to Cali and becoming a champion lifter. But as the movie goes on, the increasingly obvious pro-steroid slant skews what seemed like objectivity to the point that by the end, one wonders which steroid manufacturers helped finance this film.

The nadir is the "Steroids 101" section, wherein Bell attempts to seem unbiased and present just the facts, ma'am. Yes, your testes shrink while using...but they grow back when you stop! Yes, women's reproductive systems change...but it...uh...it...umm, well they may not return to normal. But on to the next, positive point! It's moments like this, glossing over the many physiological negatives of artificially bombarding your body with many times its natural production of hormones, that ultimately derail this film.

Bell seems balanced for a while, then his weird, subtly expressed regret over not taking juice earlier in his career kicks in and he becomes a cheerleader for 'roids, interviewing only doctors who are on the fence, and ignoring the many who could show the other side. Any serious juicehead will tell you that to counteract the many side-effects of 'roids, a ton of other chemicals must be taken to protect the liver and various other body parts that go into crisis in the unnatural roided-up state. How can that be healthy?

But Bell seems content with the argument, expressed by many pro athletes here, that "everyone's doing them, so to compete, I must too". The deeper moral issues of that stance are avoided, and the movie even ends with Bell blaming the "American way of life" for causing steroid abuse, or use, or whatever it is. That's weak. No one made these guys want to look like the Hulk (they all admit that early on they wanted to look like comic book characters...seriously), but it's society's fault? At least man up and admit that cheating is cheating and lying is lying, even if the entire world is doing it. Little mention is made of the many champions who have not stuck needles in their body every day to win, by the way. That's a telling fact.

In spite of these issues, Bell and his family are very sympathetic, nice folks, and that's what makes this doc work. They seem like truly good people, and Bell is unflinching in his honesty about them. If only he'd been so even-handed with the negatives about 'roid use. Shrinking testes and uterine damage are not minor issues to be dismissed lightly. Instead, this is all seen as the price one must pay to play with the big boys.

The main problem for me with BSF is that it really does make 'roid use seem like it's ok for kids, despite weak warnings. Bell's brother teaches high school football and admits that he juices but always lies to his students and their parents about it, for their own good of course, not his; the movie then shows his players praising his great build and how it's "all-natural". I'd love to see a follow up doc about how they reacted to the truth, and his lies. It's that sort of backhanded semi-honesty that makes this film suspect. If it was truly ok to use 'roids, this sort of lying wouldn't be necessary. People are scared of 'roids for many reasons; the lying they engender seems like a good one.

I really liked Bell, and his intentions, and perhaps there are many positives about steroids. But he is just as guilty in his one-sided arguments as those who condemn 'roids are in theirs. And, unfortunately for Chris' side, the anti-roid folks do have the moral high ground. Yes, America is a win at all costs nation...but so what? We are meant to to hold ourselves accountable to a higher standard than the idiots who surround us, not as Americans, but as human beings.

There are some very fine scenes where Bell challenges specific people's views on steroids, such as the father whose son killed himself while on 'roids and antidepressants; the dad is unwilling to accept that the antidepressants may have been the problem (as they very often are; it is a sick crime and a pox on Big Pharma's heads that so many kids have killed themselves while on these meds, and that it's been so hushed up. Someone PLEASE make a doc about it!). That scene and a few others show Bell's truly good heart and gentle nature, and made me appreciate his efforts here even when I didn't agree with all of his ideas. The early scene with the guy living in his van waiting to be a star took balls to include, damning as it is to Bell's own dreams. Very nice, Chris. More documentarians should have your self-effacing attitude.

The extras have some moments of good humor, and bad weirdness, like the guy sucking horrible goop out of his biceps with busted needles. Why wasn't that in the movie? Probably because it's a little too close to the truths about steroid use, and the insanity that infects their users, that this movie does not want to address.

All told, this is worth watching, even if just to see how some really nice folks let themselves be swept up in a win at all costs mentality, and rationalize it all away. Which also sums up our recent financial debacles and so much else in this country, in fact. Maybe I'm just kidding myself...maybe it is all about winning. But if you have to lie to everyone around you to do it, while making your body grow in ways nature never intended, is it really worth it?

Chris Bell's "Bigger, Stronger Faster*" is a brilliant documentary. His triumph is to crystallize the steroids debate into its effects on a single family: His own. The stars of the film are the Bell brothers - big brother Mark (aka, Mad Dog) is a would-be WWE wrestler; younger brother Mike (aka, Smelly) is one of the world's top power lifters; and writer/director Chris - no less addicted to perfecting his physique - balances his bodybuilding obsession with a degree from USC Film School. His unique blend of interest and career path has given us a fascinating film.

Here's the thing: his work is neither ardently pro- nor anti-steroids. But, as its subtitle ("the side-effects of being American") implies, Bell notes what happens when three young brothers obsessed with wrestling (we see family tapes of them re-enacting WWE plotlines) have the various heroes of their youth (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan, and Sylvester Stallone as notable examples) subsequently revealed as pharmaceutically-fueled.

It's a testament to Bell's skill as a filmmaker that the unexpected standout is Smelly's wife, Andie. Attractive and articulate, she emerges as the soul of the film. She comes across as a decent, trusting person. Without belaboring the point, Bell makes you see her as testament to his brother's depth and inherent goodness. Her presence also evokes feelings of betrayal in the film-goer when Smelly begins to waffle on his "no more steroids" vow at the end of the film.

Despite the glut of documentaries that have flooded the film world over the past two years, this one ranks at the top of my list.