On The Program

In 2013, Stephen Frears directed Philomena, the story of a journalist telling the story of a unique individual. Philomena was superb in all areas. Two years later, Frears has a film about a unique individual whose story a journalist is telling. Yet, The Program is not superb, it is clumsy and uncertain about the story it wants to tell.

Perhaps the story of Lance Armstrong’s huge deception is too fresh and too well known for a film to really offer any insight. Whereas the story offered in Philomena was more intimate as well as being relevant to a larger number of people. In Armstrong there is an unapologetic millionaire banned from racing his bike. The threat is simply not that high and Armstrong not that interesting on his own. That is why Frears’s choice to limit the journalist’s role is a strange one it is in these investigative scenes where The Program comes to life a little.

There is great deal of actual footage in this 100-minute film that tries to cover Armstrong’s entire professional career, making the task even harder and ultimately one that is not achieved. The found footage, presumably included to make us believe this version of events, is a waste – Armstrong admitted the deception and what the film depicts is what he admits to having occurred. This isn’t JFK (1991). Found footage is further wasted as what we want from a Lance Armstrong film is what we haven’t seen.

Ben Foster as Lance Armstrong has most of the screen time and it is a strong performance that deserves a better film in which to shine. Unfortunately, here, he doesn’t have it. The Program is a weak film from a usually reliable director.