The Program (2016)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Ben Foster's impressive efforts to channel Lance Armstrong are often enough to power The Program past director Stephen Frears' frustrating unwillingness to delve deeper into its real-life story.
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Cast
as Lance Armstrong
as Floyd Landis
as David Walsh
as Bill Stapleton
as Dr. Michele Ferrari
as Johan Bruyneel
as Emma O'Reilly
as Betsy Andreu
as Lead Tailwind Exec
as Stephen Swart
as Young Doctor
as Times Lawyer
as Sales Person
as Armstrong Best Man
as Diner
as Tailwind Exec
as SCA Prosecutor
as Floyd's Attorney
as Charles Pelkey
as US Sports Journalist
as Armstrong's Bodyguard
as Chris Hamman
as Journalist
as Journalist
as Journalist
as Orderly Jones
as Woman in Book Store
as Wayne
as Christophe Bassons
as Wedding Guest
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Critic Reviews for The Program
All Critics (105) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (64) | Rotten (41)
The flashily photographed enterprise too often becomes a blur of sound bites and slick aesthetics akin to a Nike commercial.
For a story about incredibly focused determination - and if nothing else, Lance Armstrong had that - the film remains strangely uninvolved.
"The Program" fails to add anything new, or penetrate the soul of so crafty a cheater.
It never goes deep on what it was that produced the awfulness that is Lance Armstrong.
"The Program," much to its detriment, concentrates almost exclusively on the history of the doping effort . There is no mention of his childhood or adolescence or any attempt to analyze his character.
Foster nails Armstrong, right down to his final, clenched-jaw TV confession to Oprah Winfrey but The Program's glancing narrative feels less secure.
Audience Reviews for The Program
This is one of those biopics that tells a story that we all know and doesn't manage the necessary to raise it above its limitations; instead, it suffers from a one-dimensional protagonist that never becomes intriguing and ends so abruptly that it feels like Frears got tired of telling it.
Super Reviewer
I thought this was a riveting tale of the whole Lance Armstrong doping saga, I am not sure how accurate it was in terms of factual information but it was exceedingly enjoyable.
Super Reviewer
There is something to a Stephen Frears picture that is always appealing. I never expect much from them, but I typically end up with something pretty great. I've probably watched Philomena a handful of times since 2013 because I tend to show it to people who have never heard of it. The same could be said of The Queen or High Fidelity. These aren't major, milestone pieces, but they are always quenching in a way only Frears can seem to deliver. Maybe I should have went in with those same non-existent expectations to the English directors latest, but either way The Program would probably be something of a minor letdown. This isn't to say the film isn't good, in fact it has a lot of positive things going for it and I honestly wasn't ready to see it come to an end when it did, but the typical pop that comes with a Frears production just isn't at play here. Given Frears had painted a moving and somewhat revealing picture of Queen Elizabeth in his Oscar-nominated 2006 film I thought he might be up to something similar with his Lance Armstrong biopic, but alas there is no alternate version of Armstrong's life that the news reports haven't already divulged. Instead, Frears recounts the highs and lows of Armstrong's career with a compelling flow and solid performances, but nothing to give it that extra oomph to make it something truly special. read the whole review at www.reviewsfromabed.com
Super Reviewer
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