The Program
Momentum Pictures | Release Date: March 18, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
13
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Total FilmAndrew LowryOct 19, 2015
This fearless reconstruction drives home the dark lie that Lance Armstrong lived – it’s just a pity it doesn’t dig a little deeper. Read full review
80
EmpireNev PierceOct 19, 2015
The inside track on one of sport’s biggest scandals, nimbly shot and sharply scripted, powered by an outstanding performance from Ben Foster and the quiet integrity of Chris O’Dowd. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounOct 13, 2015
The Program offers no obvious new revelations and Armstrong remains elusive – but it has an unsettling air that carries us through its more pedestrian patches. Read full review
80
The GuardianCatherine ShoardSep 15, 2015
It’s a fluid and nippy telling of a tale that still seems strangely urgent. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 15, 2016
The Program wisely hangs on Foster’s fierce performance, transforming himself into Lance. Read full review
67
The Film StageJared MobarakMar 17, 2016
Despite my enjoyment in this turning of the tables to focus on our being duped rather than his being found out, The Program has its failures. Read full review
63
New York PostSara StewartMar 17, 2016
It’s basically a narrative spin on Alex Gibney’s 2013 documentary “The Armstrong Lie,” only with less cycling footage. This is a plus for those of us easily bored by such things (so many interchangeable mountain passes and neon jerseys!), but there isn’t a ton of new material here. Read full review
60
CineVueMatthew AndersonSep 15, 2015
It must be said that Foster - who adhered to the actual doping program during filming - excels as Armstrong. Bearing an unnerving physical resemblance to the fallen cycling hero, he is a revelation in a remarkable tour de force - not France - performance. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 15, 2015
You sense structural uncertainty about what the Armstrong saga connotes and how exactly it was begging to be told. But you can’t take your eyes off Foster. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloMar 16, 2016
It’s a rote hatchet job, rehashing information that virtually everyone already knows, but at least it facilitates one of the year’s oddest and gutsiest performances. Read full review
58
HitfixGregory EllwoodOct 20, 2015
The Program works when it has you questioning how on earth this secret could be kept so quiet for so long when so many people knew exactly what was going on. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorMar 18, 2016
The Program makes passing references to the power of celebrity and the Live Strong narrative – the cyclist admits to telling people what they wanted to hear – but it never goes deep on what it was that produced the awfulness that is Lance Armstrong. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedMar 17, 2016
Armstrong is played by Ben Foster with an astonishing lack of animation or personality, and his literary prosecutor is played by the usually colorful, award-winning Chris O’Dowd with a dreariness that is stripped bare of his usual dynamism. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenMar 16, 2016
The Program is flashier and more self-conscious than many biopics, but it's ultimately just as hollow. Read full review
50
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganSep 15, 2015
For all that it promises the thrill of high-speed racing, the crush of the peloton, and the drama of disgrace, The Program works best when it deals with this fascinating case of investigative journalism which saw Walsh doggedly pursue his target through 13 years and the temporary loss of his own reputation. Read full review
50
VarietyGuy LodgeSep 15, 2015
In the film’s richest performance, Plemons beautifully teases out the ambiguities and potential hypocrisies of Landis’ own moral position, tracing Armstrong’s slippery downward spiral almost in spite of himself. Read full review
42
The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicSep 15, 2015
A couple of exhilarating cycling scenes, and a pretty solid lead performance, does not a good movie make. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinMar 17, 2016
It's so preoccupied with hammering home the point that Armstrong was a liar and a cheat, it can't risk giving him any credit for having charisma to spare, or at least enough cunning to know how to manipulate our current fantasies about heroic sportsmen. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesStaff (Not Credited)Mar 17, 2016
The Program pedals fast, but the end result is little more than a psychologically shallow recap reel. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMar 17, 2016
The Program, much to its detriment, concentrates almost exclusively on the history of the doping effort. Read full review
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