When I went to watch this film, I had no idea that this would be about Lance Armstrong. I only had a cursory knowledge of who Lance Armstrong was. He was an American cycling hero who survived testicular cancer then went on to win the gruelling Tour de France cycling race an incredible seven years in a row. I also knew about his fall from grace as evidence of his use of performance-enhancing drugs came out and he got stripped of all his titles.
Because of my ignorance, I admit feeling sorry for Armstrong for suffering such major loss. "The Program" tells us there is nothing to pity him for. Lance Armstrong was an absolutely arrogant and horribly hateful person who purposefully fooled the whole world about his "heroism". This film was so directly one-dimensional about its message such that no other conclusion could be arrived at except for that very negative one. Director Stephen Frears ("The Queen," "Dangerous Liaisons") made sure of that.
In the credits, it was revealed that the screenplay of this film was based on the book entitled "Seven Deadly Sins" written by David Walsh. In this film, Walsh (Chris O'Dowd) was played like a martyr. He was Armstrong's nemesis, the journalist who suspected Armstrong's drug use from his very first Tour de France win, and never stopped trying to prove that he was right. No wonder the whole film had a disturbingly one-sided point of view. Even sports physician Dr. Michele Ferrari (Guillaume Canet with an Italian accent) was painted like a sleazy nefarious drug kingpin here, with no sense of medical ethics whatsoever.
Ben Foster was solid in portraying Lance Armstrong as a the big bad villain. This intense actor really got into the skin of his character. He will definitely make you hate him here. I really felt like I was watching the real Armstrong -- flesh, blood and erythropoietin. Directed to portray a character who seemingly had no human side to root for, Foster's Armstrong was indeed cold-blooded and ruthless.
On a more positive note, character actor Jesse Plemons gave a remarkable performance as Floyd Landis, a younger member of Armstrong's team who got swept up into the "program". His scenes of conflict as a member of the Mennonite religious community of Farmerville, Pennsylvania and the sport he loved added some point of interest in the film.
While the reenacted scenes of the cycling races merged with actual race footage were thrilling, it was very disappointing to see the "professional" monkey business that happen behind the scenes at these prestigious sporting events. Instead of sports being inspirational, this film shows us the flipside where extreme pride and greed wreak havoc on men's lives. The deception is dastardly and demoralizing. 7/10.
Hmm pretty interesting. I had no idea this movie came out or one existed. Despite Lance's controversy, I wouldn't mind watching this. Thank you for sharing. Great review.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm not determined to watch a movie that will make me feel only sad and negative in the end. I didn't know that part about Lance Armstrong.
ReplyDeleteI heard of what happened to Lance Armstrong. I never heard they have a movie about his story. I will wait for this one to be available online. Thanks for sharing your review.
ReplyDeleteOh, didn't know that there is a movie about Lance Armstrong. What a respected man he was and how the downfall!! Feel very sad. Thanks for sharing about this movie.
ReplyDeleteHi, Fred. A little off-topic: I remember reading your review on Room and when I saw that Brie Larson won as Best Actress, I remembered you. Cool. Anyway, I used to be amazed with Lance's story on how he battled cancer and won those awards after that. I guess when it is too good to be true, it surely is.
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting. But too bad it feels too one-sided...
ReplyDeleteI really like watching movies based on real lives...
I don't like the fact that the movie is all about a book that his nemesis wrote. It's a bit too one-sided for me. Not interested in a movie like this at all.
ReplyDeleteWell cheat and shit happen, it's good that they tell us the real situation that give us the impression that everything is perfect and fair. I will try to watch this movie.
ReplyDeleteWhoa. Like you, I only heard of Lance Armstrong when his drug doping scandal blew up. I really pitied him, and the way you rated this, justs convinces more people that he really has no honor.
ReplyDeleteI was spell-bound after watching this movie. Hope more people see this influential movie. Great review by the way.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with Lance was he became too competitive that he had to win at all cost. I hope the movie help clean up the sport by telling about the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting to me especially my son would love to watch it.
ReplyDeleteHi Fred,once again you did a great job with the review.Heard a little about this part of lance but would prefer to see it as a movie too.
ReplyDeletenice work
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