Movie review: The Program

You don't have to like cycling to find yourself leaning into the corners on The Program.

Not just the sweeping bends of the Tour de France descents, but how the taut story whips you around its curves as it near-sprints through the life of Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor, champion, cheat.

Yes an appreciation for what it takes to spend an entire month in lycra, mostly helping some other guy win a bicycle race, is possibly needed, going in.

But Stephen Frears' spare, thrilling adaptation of the book by Sunday Times journalist David Walsh, about how his reporting blew the whistle on the doping all-American champ - he was vilified for it at the time - doesn't get bogged down with the minutiae of the sport or the Tour.

It plays like a thriller as its anti-hero dodges yet another spot test, or threatens a minion about the consequences of telling the truth. Which might sound like a grim going. But it's elevated by Ben Foster's riveting performance as the man in the yellow jersey. His portrayal is one of those which makes you replace Armstrong's actual face in your memory.

When he's edited into actual footage of Armstrong's confessional interview with Oprah Winfrey, it works - despite the rough edges on the cut'n'paste because Foster has been so utterly convincing up until that point. Elsewhere, Frears and his editors do a fine job of splicing their own race dramatisations with television footage.

There are memorable supporting turns too.

Among them is O'Dowd playing it straight as Walsh as he battles both his editors and cycling officialdom with his stories about Armstrong's connections with suspect Italian doctor Michele Ferrari (Guillaume Canet). Ferrari was the sports medic who told Armstrong early in his career that he had the wrong body shape to be a champion - something the ravages of therapy for testicular cancer took care of, before his fairytale comeback to win the Tour seven times. Also neatly established as a pivotal fully-fledged character is Armstrong team-mate Floyd Landis, portrayed by Jesse Plemons, a man who actually had a conscience to wrestle with, care of his Mennonite religious upbringing. But mostly The Program is a character study of Armstrong - the American hero and the bullying liar behind it all.

No doubt The Program takes some narrative liberties and some abrupt shortcuts - Armstrong meets his wife, presumably marries her, only for her to disappear for the rest of the movie. Likewise, Dustin Hoffman's brief role as a big money insurance guy who taps Walsh during his investigations is an odd distraction.

Yes, Alex Gibney's 2013 documentary The Armstrong Lie certainly caught him in the act. But The Program offers its own exciting high-cadence take on the story. Better, it finds the chemically-enhanced pulse to Armstrong's big, beating, cheating heart.

Cast: Ben Foster, Chris O'Dowd, Jesse Plemons, Dustin Hoffman
Director: Stephen Frears
Rating: M (offensive language)
Running time: 103 mins
Verdict: The champion cheat gets the biopic he deserves.