The Program

Oct 16, 2015 | Posted by in Movies
The Program

Stephen Frears The Program tells the story of 7 time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong through his rise and fall as the truth about his performance enhancing drug use comes to light.

Ben Foster takes on the role of Lance Armstrong and gives a fantastic performance as the unsympathetic disgraced cyclist but the script doesn’t afford him enough depth to make the story work. There’s mention of his personal life inclusive of wife and children but they are never a part of the story. Foster puts across the ego of the man and the charisma he has when dealing with the public but there’s very little insight into what goes on beneath the surface.

It’s a shame as it starts off well enough with his career starting out with an innocent desire to excel. If done right then Armstrong’s determination to be the best could be shown to be instrumental in his downfall. His cancer comes and goes within a matter of scenes so never quite has the impact as an inspirational force that it should have. It does lead to a touching scene where he comforts a young sufferer but for the most part it is treated on a superficial level. Similarly the consequences of his doping are never fully realised.

The ProgramPacing is a large problem in general. It feels that the film is spending its runtime rushing to get to the end of the story without stopping to focus on the important things and how the events relate to the people involved. As such it comes across as a wholly superficial experience.

I do have to applaud the decision to commit to making Lance Armstrong an unlikeable guy given that the film follows him but this is complemented by connecting his fascination with coming out on top to the methods he would use to evade detection by the drug screenings so it becomes almost an exercise in seeing how a cheater continues to get away with winning competitions under false pretences than it is a character study.

While that is a solid idea I would have preferred a more introspective look at the psychology of a man who would go to such lengths to win. Very little is made of how he can justify it beyond the weak “everyone else is doing it” defence. This is something that the narrative makes no attempt to prove or disprove so it feels weak as a motivation as it isn’t explored in any way.

The film was based on a book by journalist David Walsh played here by Chris O’Dowd who was frustrated as he seemed to be the only one suspicious of Armstrong’s meteoric rise to unprecedented success in the sport. Walsh comes and goes from the narrative at random intervals and is missing for so long at one point that I forgot all about his investigation.

Walsh’ investigation would have been the perfect narrative hook for this film and would have allowed Armstrong to be seen from afar on a very superficial level. Chris O’Dowd gave a great performance in this film and proved that he can successfully navigate away from his comedy roots to play dramatic roles. I just wish he had been given more to do rather than show up whenever the plot needed a push.

The rest of the cast were something of a mixed bag. Guillaume Canet as Armstrong’s doping doctor Michele Ferraris is almost cartoonish in his characterisation which robs any scenes he appears in of anything resembling credibility. Jesse Plemons has so little to work with as team-mate Floyd Landis that his appearance in the film feels like a pointless addition.

Perhaps this story is a little too recent and therefore too raw to explore in its entirety but the story of Lance Armstrong should be able to turn into a really compelling drama someday. Regrettably this isn’t the film that the story deserves. The lack of depth to anyone portrayed in this film really lets it down in major ways. Some excellent performances aren’t enough to elevate the substandard script.

I wouldn’t suggest that this is worth watching. There are shades of something worthwhile in there but you have to dig deep to find them. I would say skip this one.

 

Overall
  • 3/10
    The Program - 3/10
3/10

Summary

A disappointing missed opportunity to tell the story of disgraced cheating athlete Lance Armstrong through his rise and fall.

Ben Foster does a great job portraying Lance Armstrong but there’s a lack of depth to him in the script so Foster manages to put across the arrogance as well as the determination but not an awful lot else. I do applaud the decision to make Armstrong unlikeable in the film rather than try to portray him in a sympathetic light.

Any character development feels entirely superficial throughout. His cancer comes and goes in a matter of minutes and the consequences to his doping are never fully realised. It feels as if the film is rushing to tell the story as quickly as it can without stopping to give any focus to the important elements.

Despite basing this on the book of journalist David Walsh the man is rarely featured and when he is there’s no real purpose to it. Using him as the focal point would have made it more appropriate to have a superficial portrayal of Armstrong as he would only be seen from afar. Chris O’Dowd is excellent in this role straying from his standard comedic characters but has very little time and depth to work with.

The same can be said of many of the supporting cast such as Guillaume Canet who is almost cartoonish and Jesse Plemons who may as well have not been there at all.

I would suggest skipping this one as it’s not the film that this story deserves. That is yet to be made so don’t waste your time here.

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