eddie_baggins The life and times of bike racing legend turned exposed drug cheat extraordinaire Lance Armstrong will forever and a day make for an intriguing and shocking story and while Philomena and The Queen director Stephen Frear's feature exploring the 'program' that Armstrong and his racing team developed to systematically rout the system is insightful, it's still a rather cold and strangely structured piece that gets us no closer to knowing who Armstrong really was or what made him into the figure he is today.Those seeking an Armstrong biopic will be left sorely disappointed by The Program, as its main goals are signposted early by throwing the viewer headfirst into Armstrong's later life as an up and coming racer, a cancer survivor and eventually a superstar of the sport that he became a household name for his achievements and then a name that will tarnish the racing industry for the foreseeable future.Frear's bases his tale on Irish reporter David Walsh's book who is here played by the impressive Chris O'Dowd and that books focus clearly drives The Program to be almost entirely centred around what went on behind closed doors (or caravan doors) with Armstrong and his crew but it's the films sporadically used racing scenes that really get the heart going and it would've been great for the film to be a little more 'cinematic' in its ambitions, it would've likely helped the films causes upon release to in what was a very lacklustre run at cinemas despite the interest in the Armstrong story and Ben Foster's impressive central display as Armstrong.A long time student of supporting roles (his turns in 3:10 to Yuma and Lone Survivor are highlights) and the odd lead, it's great to see Foster cast in such a high profile role and looking past his uncanny resemblance to Armstrong, Foster's turn is full of physical and mental commitment. It's not an easy role, Armstrong comes across as a totally unlikeable and self-obsessed creation (watch as Armstrong sheds tears at placing third on the podium) and Foster doesn't hold back from the narcissistic creation that the racing superstar no doubt was and probably still is today, despite his great work for cancer research the world over.The Program is a watchable and proficiently made examination of a certain aspect of Armstrong's life and also the shadowy dealings of the racing industry but it never really reaches a great height considering the materials at its disposals and its inability to get down to what made Armstrong tick is considerably infuriating, despite Fosters winning performance.3 blood bags out of 5

Cinefill1 -The Program (working title Icon) is a 2015 British-French biographical drama film about Lance Armstrong directed by Stephen Frears, starring Ben Foster as Armstrong and Chris O'Dowd as journalist David Walsh.-The film is based on Walsh's book Seven Deadly Sins. It premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on 14 September 2015 and was theatrically released in France on 16 September and the United Kingdom on 14 October.--Development: -Screenwriter John Hodge has said that he primarily based his screenplay on Seven Deadly Sins, in addition to other journalism and affidavits from cyclists. Hodge says he ruled out using Armstrong's own accounts of his behavior during this period, and that scenes shown from Armstrong's perspective are fiction.--Casting: -Lee Pace joined the cast in November 2013. Dustin Hoffman joined the cast in December 2013.-To better understand his role, Foster took performance enhancing drugs while shooting the film.

SnoopyStyle It's 1993 and Lance Armstrong (Ben Foster) is in his first Tour in France. Irish sports journalist David Walsh (Chris O'Dowd) is both following and rooting for the competitive new American wonderboy. After initial losses, he and his teammates start using enhancements. The team starts winning but then he's diagnosed with cancer. After his tiring treatments, he gets help from Dr. Michele Ferrari who is experimenting outside the ethical lines. Bill Stapleton (Lee Pace) organizes the deal with US Postal. Walsh starts to suspect that something is amiss. God-fearing Floyd Landis (Jesse Plemons) is hired to help Armstrong and he takes over after Lance. Betsy Andreu recounts a moment with Armstrong and her husband. Armstrong decides to defend against his detractors by attacking them.Despite the great actors and solid work, this still has a biopic feel in the structure of the movie. It follows the story faithfully. The truthfulness seems to be there. Ben Foster does nice work inhabiting the role although I'm not sure if it dives into his mind enough. It would be helpful to add something from before his Tour and doping life. Walsh's crusade is more compelling. The second half of the movie is more compelling. It is generally missing the drama and the thrills. I'm also not certain if this gets any special insight into Armstrong's character. It's a functional biopic but the material is ready for much more.

elle_kittyca I was a bit surprised to see this biopic had a rating of 6.5 after I watched it. I find most IMDb reviews far too generous, but in my opinion, this rating was about right.its a solid bio-pic that tells an interesting story of a cheater and his downfall. I am generally not very interested in sports, but I do like true stories of people and their weakness, and Armstong is a flawed character, who even in disgrace and failure never seemed able to really grasp the enormity of his flaws. The movie was coherent, well scripted, an d reasonably acted. and I've looked at the reviews that have marked it lower than that, and most of them complain that its is not as powerful in the end as it should be. I guess, to some extent, I can see where they are coming from. Who can argue that the the level of dishonesty displayed by this man should have ended in a total downfall of heart-wrenching magnitude? Like Armstrong (eventually), the movie tells it like it is and doesn't contemplate the full enormity of the situation for dramatic effect.