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United Kingdom, France · 2015
Rated PG-13 · 1h 43m
Director Stephen Frears
Starring Ben Foster, Chris O'Dowd, Guillaume Canet, Jesse Plemons
Genre Drama
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This biographical film follows the Irish sports journalist convinced that banned substances fuel Lance Armstrong's consistently superior performances during the Tour de France victories. Following his suspicions, he starts hunting for evidence to expose Armstrong as a cheater, slowly unraveling one of the biggest scandals in sports history.
It must be said that Foster - who adhered to the actual doping program during filming - excels as Armstrong. Bearing an unnerving physical resemblance to the fallen cycling hero, he is a revelation in a remarkable tour de force - not France - performance.
This fearless reconstruction drives home the dark lie that Lance Armstrong lived – it’s just a pity it doesn’t dig a little deeper.
The Guardian by Catherine Shoard
It’s a fluid and nippy telling of a tale that still seems strangely urgent.
Time Out London by Dave Calhoun
The Program offers no obvious new revelations and Armstrong remains elusive – but it has an unsettling air that carries us through its more pedestrian patches.
Screen International by Fionnuala Halligan
For all that it promises the thrill of high-speed racing, the crush of the peloton, and the drama of disgrace, The Program works best when it deals with this fascinating case of investigative journalism which saw Walsh doggedly pursue his target through 13 years and the temporary loss of his own reputation.
The Program works when it has you questioning how on earth this secret could be kept so quiet for so long when so many people knew exactly what was going on.
In the film’s richest performance, Plemons beautifully teases out the ambiguities and potential hypocrisies of Landis’ own moral position, tracing Armstrong’s slippery downward spiral almost in spite of himself.
The Playlist by Nikola Grozdanovic
A couple of exhilarating cycling scenes, and a pretty solid lead performance, does not a good movie make.
You sense structural uncertainty about what the Armstrong saga connotes and how exactly it was begging to be told. But you can’t take your eyes off Foster.
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