Viewed in
2010
Formats
HD TV
Premise
Part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series, John Singleton directs a documentary about Marion Jones' fall from grace and her journey afterward.
Liked
The candor of the interviews.
Thoughts
The best thing about it was how open Jones was during her interviews. They spent quite a bit of time focusing on her six months in prison, and she even revisited the prison to talk about it. I learned that she was not pampered like a celebrity, nor was she in a hardcore place like an HBO special. Only a couple years after everything came tumbling down, we got her perspective on how everything played out. She came off as smart, communicative, driven, and insightful. And in the end Singleton successfully portrayed Jones as an athlete who made poor decisions (some in the blink of an eye), and attempting to prevent others from doing the same.
Personally, I wished it went into more detail about how she cheated, but I understand why specifics were glossed over, because the film was more about the aftermath and how her life unfolded.
What I would change
Nothing.
