Bigger, Stronger, Faster* 2008

Sara Cardace, New York Magazine/Vulture: ...manages to be two films at once: One is an informative portrait of a power-hungry society; the other is an intensely gripping narrative of personal growth. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: Unexpectedly funny [and] sometimes angry. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Bigger, Stronger, Faster* offers persuasive examples of circumstances in which we let people make their own choices, no matter how dimwitted, from plastic-surgery addiction to daredevil stunts. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: A thoughtful, informative and thoroughly entertaining examination of the role of performance-enhancing drugs in modern life. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A hugely entertaining personal documentary about what steroids mean to American pop culture. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: It's a fascinating and unexpectedly profound and melancholy meditation on what we have become as a country and on the misguided obsessions that made us this way. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: By making this journey personal, a powerful vulnerability permeates the film. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Smart, touching and enlightening, a combination that makes Bigger, Stronger, Faster the best documentary of the year so far. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: A good documentary will take you places you didn't plan to go, but I didn't really expect that from Bigger, Stronger, Faster, an incisive and compulsively watchable look at America's love affair with steroids. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Steroids as demonized innocents is a tough pill to swallow, and while Bell isn't out to build a clear case, he succeeds in muddying the waters. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: The performance-enhancing quality behind this muscular movie is director Chris Bell's willingness to go far beyond the call of duty. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: It'll shake up your beliefs not just about steroids but about competition, hypocrisy, body obsession and American notions of masculinity. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Powerful stuff. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: There's been a glut of pointless first- person documentaries lately, but newcomer Christopher Bell has a legitimate personal take in his film about Americans who use anabolic steroids. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This movie is remarkable in that it seems to be interested only in facts. Read more

Reyhan Harmanci, San Francisco Chronicle: Bell posits that their disillusionment is a side effect of being American and he may well be right. Read more

Peter Schilling, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Bigger, Stronger, Faster* is that rare film that truly challenges its audience. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: More scrupulously reported than your average Michael Moore film but every bit as entertaining. Read more

Michelle Orange, Village Voice: Bell finds the epitome of that tragedy in his own family and, in his first film, digs unflinchingly at its roots. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: The film isn't quite a memoir; it's also a platform to branch off into other areas, briskly and informatively and with a good deal of clearheadedness. Read more