When Lance Armstrong (Ben Foster, Lone Survivor) speaks to his reflection in The Program, he’s not trying to bolster his confidence for a tough task or a valiant act. Instead, his conversation with his likeness is a rehearsal, not a pep talk. He already believes himself to be a champion worthy of idolatry, and thinks his winning prowess justifies any dubious deeds. He’s staring at himself to perfect the phrasing and tone that will make clear to the world that he hasn’t used performance-enhancing substances to secure his Tour de France successes. Now, it is a matter of record that his words were untrue.
Of course, the widespread knowledge of Armstrong’s dishonesty, as covered extensively in the media and charted in Alex Gibney’s 2013 documentary The Armstrong Lie, looms over The Program. That this is a story audiences have heard about and seen before, en masse and recently, cannot be forgotten. Such awareness leaves director Stephen Frears (Philomena) and writer John Hodge (Trance) to recreate the details surrounding the famous cyclist’s rise and fall rather than provide answers, offering ample showing and telling but little explaining. As the mirrored chat emphasises, the film shows how a man so strenuously claiming to be one thing became another. What it can’t satisfyingly ponder is the question everyone is still contemplating: why?
Accordingly, The Program chronicles Armstrong’s progression through various phases: aspiring competitor, cancer patient, determined comeback kid, applauded victor, scheming doper, vehement denier and fallen hero all among them. Cognisant of the wealth of material that has traversed the same territory, particularly the book Seven Deadly Sins by journalist David Walsh that gives the feature its basis, the film frames his journey as a game of cat-and-mouse between the athlete and the writer (Chris O’Dowd, St. Vincent). As one takes the win-at-all-costs approach, the other attempts to air his suspicions in the press, sparking a cycle of accusations and denunciations.
Unsurprisingly, Walsh becomes the more fascinating figure in Frears’ polished and pointed, fluid and fast-paced rendition of the real-life quest to unmask Armstrong’s wrong doing. If The Program inspires intrigue, it stems from those surrounding the central figure, daring to doubt and defy him, instead of the main man himself. Imparting fictionalised accounts of the moments behind those already frequently documented may be intended to flesh out Armstrong as a character, but with the outcome inescapable and perceptions unalterable, it’s the tales of those caught within his ego-driven chaos that resonate. Walsh is joined by Armstrong’s uncertain teammate Floyd Landis (Jesse Plemons, TV’s Fargo) as points of interest that move the movie beyond the familiarity of the intricacies of his wrongdoing and the clues that were obvious along the way.
Indeed, that Armstrong retains attention and proves more than a forgone conclusion is a result of Foster’s performance rather than The Program‘s rehash of his narrative. An evolving character demands the same in portrayal, with the actor excelling in conveying the nuances of each step in the transformation from keen contender to cheat. And yet, amidst a cast that also includes Guillaume Canet (Next Time I’ll Aim for the Heart) as Armstrong’s shady supplier, Lee Pace (TV’s Halt and Catch Fire) as his manager and Dustin Hoffman (Boychoir) as an insurer eager to expose his actions, O’Dowd and Plemons remain the film’s highlights, each candid and crusading, complex and compelling their own ways. They might be standing near the edges of the mirror the movie holds up to Armstrong, but they’re where the eyes are drawn in searching for texture beyond the fractured centrepiece.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
The Program
Director: Stephen Frears
UK | France, 2015, 103 mins
Release date: November 26
Distributor: StudioCanal
Rating: M
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