Film No. 82 (2015) November 21st. 11.00 AM LUNA Leederville.
"I used to believe in this sport and Armstrong is killing it". (Journalist David Walsh (Chris O'Dowd)expresses his anger as he becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong is a drug cheat).
I've not read the book Seven Deadly Sins: My pursuit of Lance Armstrong by Sunday Times journalist David Walsh on which The Program is based, so my review may have been different if I had. But because I'm a lover of stories told well on screen I doubt I've missed the point. The Lance Armstrong lie is a complicated puzzle and unfortunately this film tries to fit every piece of that puzzle into place. There is just too much information for the story to have been told with a gripping uniqueness.
So while one never gets a total picture of all the key events and a handle on all the relationships The Program is a slick, sequential log of the events which led to the demise of possibly the world's most respected athlete.
The casting of Ben Foster as Armstrong in this British production was a master stroke. There are times where I felt I was actually watching the man himself. There was a menace to Armstrong when he was cornered, the barefaced brazenness of which is captured brilliantly by Foster. Chris O'Dowd as Walsh was as competent as O'Dowd usually is but Walsh was never scripted well enough for us to really feel that sense of dogged justification he deserved in the end.
Given all the criticism I'm pleased to have relived the key moments of this story. Like 99 Homes, it is a timely reminder that corruption exists within multiple layers of life. People set standards to live by, Armstrong compromised his standards so he could win. Hence I'd really like to see a film made about Floyd Landers (Jesse Plemons), Armstrong's racing partner, who confessed to corruption but came from a background where high moral standards are fundamental to how life is led. Landers is by far and away the most interesting character here. 7GUMS.
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