Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
An Irish sports journalist becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong's performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances. With this conviction, he starts hunting for evidence that will expose Armstrong.
The Program competently dramatizes the Lance Armstrong doping scandal with solid performances, particularly from Ben Foster as Armstrong, and captures the cycling world with reasonable visual flair. However, the story's arc is well-known public knowledge by the time of release, robbing it of dramatic tension. The film follows a fairly conventional sports-expose formula, and its ending—essentially a foregone conclusion—feels anticlimactic given the lack of a truly satisfying narrative resolution. Foster's committed physical performance is a highlight, but the film struggles to add much new perspective beyond what investigative journalism and documentaries like 'The Armstrong Lie' had already covered.