Review by Stephen Tronicek
The Program almost gives the impression of a biker riding quickly down a hill, and then running him/herself into a wall. The cyclist can go quickly. He/she can burst forward with such a thrilling momentum that it can’t be conceived. That might be entertaining, but they still hit the wall.
That thrilling momentum is the best thing that The Program has going for it (besides a performance by Ben Foster too researched and nuanced for the film he’s in). This is the type of pacing that fits comedies, and action films better, but it’s interesting to see how much director Stephen Frears (The Queen) gets away with by keeping the film going quickly. He’s able to cover the entirety of Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France career, and David Walsh’s investigations into the cyclist into a tight one hundred and five minutes.
The Program almost gives the impression of a biker riding quickly down a hill, and then running him/herself into a wall. The cyclist can go quickly. He/she can burst forward with such a thrilling momentum that it can’t be conceived. That might be entertaining, but they still hit the wall.
That thrilling momentum is the best thing that The Program has going for it (besides a performance by Ben Foster too researched and nuanced for the film he’s in). This is the type of pacing that fits comedies, and action films better, but it’s interesting to see how much director Stephen Frears (The Queen) gets away with by keeping the film going quickly. He’s able to cover the entirety of Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France career, and David Walsh’s investigations into the cyclist into a tight one hundred and five minutes.
- 3/10/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
When you think about what Lance Armstrong did to the sport of cycling—winning seven straight Tour de France titles before finally being revealed as a cheater—you have to laugh. It’s funny how much stock people around the world put in professional sports and athletes only to see their fallibilities as a betrayal. Celebrities in other vocations screw up all the time; some have found their fame specifically for screwing up. But there is integrity to athletics that must not be tainted in the public consciousness. Somehow sports aren’t purely for entertainment because if they were we wouldn’t care that Armstrong doped. We loved him while he did it and that fact will never disappear.
I sincerely hope that both screenwriter John Hodge and director Stephen Frears understood the farcical nature of his story because I want to believe the comedy streak running throughout The Program is intentional.
I sincerely hope that both screenwriter John Hodge and director Stephen Frears understood the farcical nature of his story because I want to believe the comedy streak running throughout The Program is intentional.
- 9/20/2015
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
7C6A1050.CR2
A new trailer for The Program has arrived.
From Academy Award nominated director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena) and producers Working Title Films (The Theory Of Everything, Everest, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), comes the true story of the meteoric rise and fall of one of the most celebrated and controversial men in recent history; Lance Armstrong, the world-renowned Tour de France champion.
The film will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 13.
The world needs heroes and Lance Armstrong was the ultimate sporting hero. Following a gruelling battle with cancer, Lance returned to his cycling career in 1999 more determined than ever and with his sights set firmly on winning the Tour de France. With the help of the infamous Italian physician Michele Ferrari and team director Johan Bruyneel, he developed the most sophisticated doping program in the history of the sport. This program allowed Lance...
A new trailer for The Program has arrived.
From Academy Award nominated director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena) and producers Working Title Films (The Theory Of Everything, Everest, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), comes the true story of the meteoric rise and fall of one of the most celebrated and controversial men in recent history; Lance Armstrong, the world-renowned Tour de France champion.
The film will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 13.
The world needs heroes and Lance Armstrong was the ultimate sporting hero. Following a gruelling battle with cancer, Lance returned to his cycling career in 1999 more determined than ever and with his sights set firmly on winning the Tour de France. With the help of the infamous Italian physician Michele Ferrari and team director Johan Bruyneel, he developed the most sophisticated doping program in the history of the sport. This program allowed Lance...
- 9/11/2015
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Ben Foster darts through the hills of France and around accusations of doping as Lance Armstrong in the new trailer for The Program, director Stephen Frears' upcoming biopic about the rise and fall of the disgraced cyclist.
In the trailer's opening moments, we hear Armstrong espousing his love of cycling and delivering, in a voiceover, a delightfully smarmy platitude about perseverance: "Inside each and every one of us is something more potent and powerful than any drug: It's called, 'the will to survive.'" Soon after though, he's seen...
In the trailer's opening moments, we hear Armstrong espousing his love of cycling and delivering, in a voiceover, a delightfully smarmy platitude about perseverance: "Inside each and every one of us is something more potent and powerful than any drug: It's called, 'the will to survive.'" Soon after though, he's seen...
- 6/11/2015
- Rollingstone.com
With The Armstrong Lie, documentarian Alex Gibney unpacks the psychology of one of sport's most notorious cheaters. And the Oscar-winner is no stranger to mendacity – his previous credits include Taxi to the Dark Side (about the CIA's use of torture), Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer. But unlike those other projects, Gibney was actually welcomed into Armstrong's web of deceit. Gibney's first take on the subject, which was going to be called The Road Back, followed the racer during...
- 11/7/2013
- Rollingstone.com
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