The Program, 2015.
Directed by Stephen Frears.
Starring Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, Guillaume Canet, Jesse Plemons, Lee Pace, Denis Menochet and Dustin Hoffman.
SYNOPSIS:
An Irish sports journalist becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong’s performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances. With this conviction, he starts hunting for evidence that will expose Armstrong.
Maybe forty minutes into The Program, Lance Armstrong declares to his teammates that Hollywood are to finally document his life with Jake Gyllenhaal-hot off the back of Brokeback Mountain-taking on the lead role, “did you see Donnie Darko, he rode a bike in that, he’s perfect.” If that film ever went into production, it may have felt eerily similar to this sporadically brave, more often insipid retelling of a far better film.
Any questions previous proposed in the far superior, far more personal The Armstrong Lie, are swept under the rug in place of a circle jerk, with Armstrong looming heavy in the background, awaiting a mutual climax in the hope they finish with the image of him, gurning as he pulls on the yellow jersey.
It may be that director Stephen Frears treats the topic with too much restraint, a respect Armstrong doesn’t deserve. Even at his absolute worst, there’s a feeling Frears is attempting to humanise Armstrong, showing his insecurities as something universal. This in part is due to the films poor pacing, feeling less like a dramatic retelling, and more a two hour long prologue, a two hour long joke with a two minute punch line.
Credit however where credit’s due to the ever impressive Ben Foster who pumps himself up, snarling at his cancer, snarling at his defectors, snarling at the audience at any given moment. In lesser hands, his performance could have been a thinly veiled caricature, but Foster is at the absolute top of his game. Chris O’Dowd, however impressive he may be-and he certainly tries his very hardest-is given a fairly unforgiving role. In being the moral compass he suffers from simply being a character of which exposition is his main personality trait.
A rather bizarre cameo from Dustin Hoffman during the film’s finale is little but a passing distraction, a shame as the film takes off during its final half hour. There’s a sense the audience is supposed to sympathise with Armstrong throughout, with his charisma and charm playing against our pre-conceived notion of him as the arch-villain of cycling. Its refreshing-although far too little too late-that the façade is pulled late on, showing Armstrong as a manipulative sociopath, although one with real belief that what he was doing had real meaning.
When at its best, The Program works as less of a sport biopic, more as a scathing attack on the ineptitude of the media and the doping boards that all but run the sport. Cinematographer Danny Cohen litters the film with Dutch angles, shooting with an infatuation for the sport and John Hodge’s script is impressively tight. It’s a technical achievement with a series of truly impressive performances, the film to finally make Ben Foster the star he so rightly deserves. It’s a shame however that the film chooses to simply state facts, dodging anything truly damning. A strong injection of steroids needs to be prescribed.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Thomas Harris
