The Program (2015) Reviews

Even though this movie didn’t make much waves when it was released, since it sounded quite intriguing, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, what I found most shocking about this movie is the fact that almost everybody in the cycling world apparently actually knew that something was wrong with this athlete and, yet, virtually nobody said anything about it. The other interesting thing was the fact that doping seems to be actually really common in this sport, something apparently even inevitable, and you might wonder if you wouldn't find exactly the same issue in any other top sport. Anyway, Lance Armstrong’s story was quite incredible and there was definitely some potential to deliver a very strong movie but, to be honest, I wonder if a documentary wouldn’t have been more efficient. For example, even though Ben Foster delivered a decent performance, the guy is always so intense that he made Armstrong looked psychotic which might seem to be the right approach if you wanted the guy to be the bad guy but, in my opinion, it would have been more interesting if they chose an actor who looked like a nice fellow like John Krasinski for example. Furthermore, I wish they developed more his motivation behind his acts. Indeed, throughout the whole thing, you never get any explanation about why he did what he did. For example, why did he create the Livestrong Foundation? Was it just some smart PR strategy? Concerning his personal life, it was even worse. I mean, at some point, he was asking some random questions to some random girl and, then, 30 secondes later, they were married but you never saw her again after that. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject.