The Program (2015)

The awful Lance Armstrong deception in an entertaining and faithful biopic. Acting and production are great. Better than the documentary The Armstrong Lie which was too soft on the cheat. We get to see how it was done and the number of people involved - which is staggering! The weakness of the press and the authorities is shown up. Based upon a book by an Irish journalist who revealed the truth and unbelievably got sued by Armstrong for doing so. Well acted by the lead who has Armstrong's mannerisms and arrogance down to a T.

Say what you like about cycling cheat Lance Armstrong, but he is weird and a c*ck. But okay, let's admit that he's also an intriguing figure: a cheat and a bully but one who first beat cancer and then devoted part of his life to raising money to fight it worldwide; and then there's that odd drive to win at all costs. A film covering all this should make for a winning one but The Program misses out on the yellow jersey. Ben Foster does excellent Lance i.e. he comes off as unlikeable, creepy and driven; it's the narrative that lets the air out of the tyres. Much of the story is taken from the exposing book by Times journalist David Walsh, and it might have been better to make this a two-hander a la Frost/Nixon, perhaps with a focus on the chasing Walsh (Chris O'Dowd), but Stephen Frears' (The Queen, Philomena) film jumps uneasily from character to character, mashing styles and tones like a peloton with BMXs and Choppers dropped into it. Depending on the scene we are in either a sports film, a fly-on- the-wall drama or a 1980s thriller, complete with Dynasty-style rants and hackneyed journo stuff. It feels old-fashioned and, for lack of a better word, bitty. Foster makes it worth a watch and his arc remains an intriguing one but you are better off catching Alex Gibney's documentary The Armstrong Lie if you want see this story told.Check out thechairreviewsmovies.wordpress.com or the chair on medium.com for more elegant appraisals.

If you haven't seen this, all I have to say is wow. The performances by every single actor were absolutely phenomenal. Ben Foster as Lance Armstrong was an amazing casting choice - he had me hating him throughout the entire movie. Even the people who played smaller more supporting roles were integral in this film, and made it so great to watch.If you haven't yet seen this, make a point of doing it as soon as possible. I already knew about Lance Armstong's doping story from what we have all heard on the news, but The Program really provided a much more in-depth analysis of the chain of events and those involved in both sides of the controversy.

I cannot call myself a fan of cycling in the least, but even before the scandal, I knew the name Lance Armstrong and what it met, if it's any consolation on how big an athlete he was. What Venus and Serena did for Tennis, what Tiger Woods did for golf.As a whole, this movie talks about a huge tragedy in the cycling world. It showed us how performance enhancing drugs dominated this man's sixteen year career, and put a bad stain on the sport.The Program is not an inspiring sports story at all, in fact it is the exact opposite. The movie shows Armstrong's biggest achievement in life is that he beat cancer twice (that is a pretty big achievement).It's a good story that was actually done badly on film. The Program was strangely put together in an attempt to focus on what the mainstream world knows about Armstrong rather than just focusing on what is an interesting story.Most sports movies about real life people attempt to create something that inspires people to be determined despite all disadvantages, it's all about dreaming big and working hard. This movie does not do that at all. Its strength is encouraging those who dream big not to roid up.