The Program movie review & film summary (2016)

The script by “Trainspotting’s" John Hodge, based on the book “Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong" by Irish sportswriter David Walsh, uses the framework of a detective yarn with the reporter assuming the role of a sort of righteous Javert. Comic actor Chris O’Dowd brings his likable every-geezer sensibility to this intrepid seeker of the truth that no one who worships Armstrong, especially his fellow sports journos, wants to hear. But how many times do we have to watch him juggling dishes at family dinner time while taking an important phone call?

At least Ben Foster as Armstrong is the perfect clenched-jaw specimen, both outwardly and inwardly, to embody this megalomaniac win-a-holic. But there is not much nuance in his Lance, just naked ambition, an implacable belief in his powers of persuasion and the need to succeed at all costs by cheating the system. 

Instead of opening with the Texas-born Armstrong dealing with his parent’s divorce or getting a Schwinn for his birthday, we are immediately plunged into the early ‘90s as the racer attempts his first European competitions. After falling behind, he quickly learns his foreign rivals are supersizing their performances with an assist from the so-called Italian pope of dope, doctor and coach Michele Ferrari (injected with a rather carefree, snake oil-salesman approach to breaking the rules by French actor Guillaume Canet).

Meanwhile, personal details are left by the side of the road. Armstrong meets his first wife and, boom, they are married and she is never seen again. At one point, three youngsters—presumably his children—join him on the victory stand. Celebrity friends of Lance ranging from George H. W. Bush and David Letterman to Robin Williams and one-time fiancée Sheryl Crow are briefly namechecked. And there is a meta moment when he and his teammates discuss who will star in the movie version of his life, with Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal as possibilities.