“The Program”, directed by Stephen Frears

Movie, 2015

Account of the tragic rise and fall of American cyclist Lance Armstrong, and an expose and account of how his doping regime in his team led him to win the Tour de France seven times. Armstrong is played as a man hellbent on winning; while there is some sympathy for his suffering Cancer, for most of the film, that desire and dedication to win shows a ruthless side and a robotic race to the top, before things unravel and the empire comes tumbling down. A slight lack of tension – we know what’s coming – is made up for by the cinematography – especially the race scenes at the beginning of the film which give and idea of the tough physicality of the sport. But this is more than just a sports film; there’s a great character study in there too.

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