The Program

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This is the story of Lance Armstrong and is based on the book by journalist David Walsh called "Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong". Walsh worked for The Sunday Times and is played by the brilliant Chris O'Dowd in the film. Walsh was one of the few who questioned the phenomenal rise of Armstrong from mediocre hill climber to King of the mountains and unbeatable in The Tour de France. Now the story is full of lies and deceit and evil doings and as such you would think it was full of Machiavellian twists – but no; it seems a bit flat to be honest. The story is interesting but seems to lack the oomph moments to bring it to anything approaching a dramatic crescendo. I think half the problem is that we all know the story by now and so there is not that much to reveal and we have already gotten truly over our initial shock and disgust at what was a crime the perpetuated for years and corrupted so many – so called- athletes. Having said all that I really enjoyed it. Ben Foster puts in an excellent performance as the duplicitous Armstrong and was even convincing in the cancer bits and the double dealing lies. So one that rises from being above 'ok' but do not expect to be blown away.

Whoever considers this 'the Lance Armstrong' film is wrong, despite it being the only non documentary feature film about the former sports legend thus far. Thing is, at its core it's not about the seven-time Tour de France winner. It's about the journalist who exposed him after years of persistent digging. It's even based on the guy's book. So naturally, Armstrong isn't depicted in a flattering way and that's putting it mildly. The infamous cyclist is portrayed as an absolutely single minded, appallingly arrogant fraud throughout the piece, with little to no redeeming character qualities. Simply said, a total jerk. Now, of course nobody will deny that aspect of his character exists. But it can't have been all he ever was/is. After all, he became an inspiration for millions. With the solely negative traits he's endowed with in this film, it's not likely he would ever have been that widely admired. But to the brave, heroic journalist who risked his career and maybe even his life to bring the man down, Armstrong was utterly evil. So that's the Armstrong we get on screen. An Armstrong devoid of nuances, a character from somebody else's pages rather than his own book of life. Which rules The Program out as the biopic it claims to be. But then, history is written by the victors. Which Armstrong himself ultimately didn't rightly turn out to be. More was to be expected from director Stephen Frears. His previous work showed him most interested in the human side of things, the choices and thoughts that make people who they are, rather than who they seem to be to the rest of the world. The Queen is the best example, where he showed the Queen of England to be just as limited a human being as the rest of us, and therefore a relatable character. The same doesn't hold true for Lance Armstrong, who is portrayed far too one sided and excessively obsessed a character to feel really real. Good performances not withstanding, since Ben Foster does an intense job at playing the star cyclist. Perhaps too much so, going over that top rather than staying right under it. Of course, Chris O'Dowd gives less of a notable performance, thus making him feel more real in the role of the intrepid reporter, which also makes him feel more human than his antagonist, as is the film's intention. And when you say O'Dowd, comedy is the first thing that springs to mind. The Program often feels like it is just that, especially in its first half. After all, we shouldn't take one of the greatest frauds ever too seriously, the film suggests. Too bad, I would have loved to have seen a movie that explains just why Armstrong did the things he did, rather than this film which only shows what those things were (which we basically already knew), rather than their motivations. But why would we need to know why a total jerk does what a total jerk does, right?

Greetings again from the darkness. The fallen king. The disgraced idol. We expect there to be more to the story of Lance Armstrong, but the bottom line is really pretty simple. Lance Armstrong is a liar. Lance Armstrong is a fraud. The movie offers little in the way of excuses or explanations, and you'll likely think even less of Armstrong after the movie … if that's even possible. Ben Foster turns in a nice performance and is believable as Lance the cyclist, Lance the teammate, and Lance the doper. But even Foster can't quite capture the public façade or reach the level of deception that the real life Lance maintained for years. Chris O'Dowd is spot on as David Walsh, the sportswriter who wrote the book on which the film is based, "Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong". In fact, the movie would likely have been more interesting had it focused on Walsh's research and pursuit, rather than re-hashing the all too familiar Armstrong deceit. Director Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity, The Grifters) works with the screenplay from John Hodge (Trainspotting) and we see how Lance battled through testicular cancer and later sought out Dr. Ferrari (Guillaume Canet) – the Godfather of blood doping. We get many shots of the familiar yellow jersey during numerous Tour de France races, and we hear Lance pontificate on what sets him apart: desire, hunger, heart and soul, and guts. Later we hear his proclamation of innocence followed by "I'm the most tested athlete on the face of the planet". Jesse Plemons ("Breaking Bad", "Fargo") has slimmed down and plays the crucial role of Floyd Landis – a devout Mennonite, Lance teammate, and the final straw in the crumbling of an empire. It's Landis who broke "the silence around cycling", and forced an industry and the public to accept what most of us hoped against all hope wasn't true. Armstrong's infamous "Oprah" appearance and public admission brought poignancy to his own words: "We are the authors of our life stories." Perhaps this lesson is as valuable as all the money Livestrong raised for cancer research. Picturesque Hamilton Pool in Austin makes an appearance, as do songs from The Ramones, The Fall ("Mr. Pharmacist") and Leonard Cohen. While the film is not at the level of Alex Gibney's documentary "The Armstrong Lie", it is a reminder that real life can be more dramatic and devastating than the movie version.

I have been really surprised by the number of negative reviews of this movie. I've never really been a fan of cycling or the Tour De France, but I was always fascinated in how Lance Armstrong was able to cheat his way to 7 tour victories. And I think Stephen Frears has done a superb job of explaining the lengths Armstrong and his team mates went to,to beat the testers. Ben Foster is superb as Armstrong to the point I almost felt it was him, whilst Chris O Dowd is equally believable as the much maligned journalist who always new the truth. One of the best sports movies in recent memory 8/10

source: The Program

Documentary type films about recent events have the challenge of showing something more than just detail that confirms or denies long held suspicions. This film about Lance Armstrong's winning the Tour de France for a record seven times, and all the assistance from sports medicine he and his US Postal Service team mates sought and mostly willingly received, easily meets that challenge, from two dimensions. First, it provides a clear and candid view into the team buses, sports medicine clinics and sports anti-doping agencies that are the prime locations for what went on, and most likely still does in many parts of professional sport. But real strength comes is in the new insights from the story of David Walsh, the Irish journalist who doggedly follows the story for the best part of a decade, and the media interests who back him despite the lack of evidence of substance. I found the cycling scenes convincing, as a recreational and occasional commuter cyclist, and TV viewer of the Tour de France. Ben Foster looks remarkably like Armstrong and inhabits both the physical cycling but even more so the dramatic and narrative parts of the show. It captures Armstrong's presence when selling his message from his cancer experiences, when promoting the Lance Armstrong Foundation for Cancer (LiveStrong) and his unshakable demonstration of his own self belief. The important members of the supporting cast were strong, including Chris O'Dowd as journalist David Walsh who first suspects all is not as it appears, and Jesse Plemons as Floyd Landis, cycling team mate who finally decided to tell all to authorities when Armstrong failed to provide support in return for all Landis did for Armstrong on and off their bikes. But to me the standout was Guillaume Canet as Dr Michele Ferrari, the medical intellect behind 'The Program'. The film isn't comfortable viewing – I found it quite disturbing for all the hard-nosed opportunism and lack of regard for reasonable fair play. This sense is probably underscored by the largely one sided story telling that telegraphs where it is seeking to go from the start. There is no attempt to present other perspectives, explanations or try to unravel the moral complexities. But the film at 1 hr 43 min is a comfortably taut length for the ground it covers, and adding more dimensions could have upset that balance.

The Program(2015) The film deals with the dope controversy around Lance Armstrong(Ben Foster)which was triggered initially by an Irish reporter David Walsh(Chris O'Dowd). Armstrong is brought brilliantly to life by Ben Foster.The performance is genuine and Foster is physically and mentally the controversial cyclist in every aspect.The lust to win at any cost be it hook or by crook is the objective of Lance Armstrong,and Foster has nailed every bit of it, be it with his body language or his emotional breakdown whenever seeing a cancer patient.The film doesn't portray Armstrong a hero or nor the character was justified for taking drugs, he is shown from the pov of a third person.His personal life is not brought into light neither his struggles during his cancer period which if portrayed, certainly the film will have been better. David Walsh is played well by Chris Odow'd. Actually the film is based on a book by David Walsh.The performance which also struck the right chords is of Jesse Plemons who plays here the character Of Floyd Landis, another fellow cyclist who is quite a complex character.Plemons is on to his best in the role.The film lacks the depth that usually these ports drama do and sometimes looks like a documentary but it actually put more shame to the character of Lance Armstrong..A man who became the symbol of hope from dope.

If you have watched this movie, or thinking about it, its probably because you are more than average interested in the Lance Armstrong story. And then again if you are, you have probably watched the documentaries as well - and they are far better than this movie. For example "Stop at Nothing The Lance Armstrong Story" - which this movie seem to be a poor copy of. Its as if they watched that documentary and thought "hey, this is a great story, lets make a movie about it!". Just too bad the story was already told in a far better way, with the real people involved. Say what you want about Ben Foster, but all the scenes he was involved in in this movie has already been done by Lance himself in the documentaries. And what could possibly beat that? The only thing that impressed me about this movie was Jesse Plemons. He actually looked like a pro biker. Unless he was photo shopped! Watch the documentaries instead, this is a waste of time.

This is the story of Lance Armstrong and is based on the book by journalist David Walsh called "Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong". Walsh worked for The Sunday Times and is played by the brilliant Chris O'Dowd in the film. Walsh was one of the few who questioned the phenomenal rise of Armstrong from mediocre hill climber to King of the mountains and unbeatable in The Tour de France. Now the story is full of lies and deceit and evil doings and as such you would think it was full of Machiavellian twists – but no; it seems a bit flat to be honest. The story is interesting but seems to lack the oomph moments to bring it to anything approaching a dramatic crescendo. I think half the problem is that we all know the story by now and so there is not that much to reveal and we have already gotten truly over our initial shock and disgust at what was a crime the perpetuated for years and corrupted so many – so called- athletes. Having said all that I really enjoyed it. Ben Foster puts in an excellent performance as the duplicitous Armstrong and was even convincing in the cancer bits and the double dealing lies. So one that rises from being above 'ok' but do not expect to be blown away.