Underplayed Gems

Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist (2014)

Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist poster
Directed by
James Erskine
Genre
documentary
Country
United Kingdom
Runtime
1h 36m
Rated
NR
Rating
7.0 of 10 from 44 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This documentary covers the life and career of cyclist Marco Pantani, from his triumphs in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia to his struggles with doping accusations and his early death. The film focuses on his achievements and avoids dwelling on his darker moments.

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What happens

Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist is a 2014 feature-length documentary film directed by James Erskine. It is about the life and death of road racing cyclist Marco Pantani. Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist was averagely received, mostly because of the too much sympathetic representation with regards to the accusation of doping. The Guardian gave the documentary three stars out of five, praising the "thrilling footage' but criticising how "it can't close the book on the doping allegations." Similarly, The Huffington Post stated that the director tended to eschew exploring Pantani's dark side in favor of focusing on his achievements. Time Out gave the documentary 3 stars out of five, describing Pantani's depiction much softer than most media accounts of Lance Armstrong. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 84% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 6.29/10. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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