StudioCanal and Working Title have dropped a new poster for Lance Armstrong biopic-of-sorts The Program. It's a pretty restrained one-sheet, with Ben Foster's Armstrong turning to look over his shoulder. A metaphor for his duel roles as champion cyclist and paranoid cheat? How clever! The Program follows Armstrong through the eyes of journalist David Walsh (Chris O'Dowd) as he begins to piece together the extent of Armstrong's steroidal deception. It's got a big cast, with Foster and O'Dowd joined by Guillaume Canet and Jesse Plemons, whilst Stephen Frears (The Queen) calls the shots. Frears has a habit of making Academy troubling films, and it seems The Program is intent on upholding that tradition. This story already received pretty comprehensive treatment in the 2013 documentary The Armstrong Lie, so there's definitely a need for The Program to bring something else to the table. Focusing in on the mental sparring between Armstrong and Walsh would probably be a good start, but that's very dependent on Foster and O'Dowd knocking it out of the park. Frears has a good track record of intriguing moral debate in his features, with a particular penchant for the battle between public and personal struggle. His human portrait of the monarchy in The Queen immediately springs to mind, but there was a fair bit in 2013's Philomena too. If the director instills The Program with the same maturity, it might not only do the Armstrong incident justice, but prove an incisive and important commentary on the modern relationship between man and media. The Program will hit cinemas 16th October.
