His flawed reaction to the damning doping revelations taught a valuable personal branding lesson: Never let your story become such a fable that the fall is so steep.

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He wants, in a word, to desacralize the story, make it less of a fable and more of a history.

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There's precious little poetry in this free adaptation by screenwriters Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, but their sharp spin on the story puts a psychological face on the ancient fable.

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And the story itself doesn't end up a downer as the fable unfolds, telling how even a loutish, self-absorbed lawyer can ultimately find redemption.

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