On Friday October 16, a new film will be released about the story of Lance Armstrong, titled The Program.
For those who are still out of the loop, Armstrong was a star American athlete and philanthropist, who got caught for cheating by using performance enhancing drugs. He was a prominent cyclist, and won the Tour de France competitions seven consecutive times until he was stripped of these achievements.
Armstrong was a victim of testicular cancer, and in 1997 miraculously overcame the treacherous disease. After his recovery, Armstrong vowed to become an award-winning cyclist, and took performance enhancing drugs to help him reach his goal. He established the famous Livestrong Foundation charity that has donated millions to cancer research. Back in the late 1990s to early 2000s, it was this combined with his cycling accomplishments that garnered him a significant amount of public support.
The film is not only based on Armstrong's story, but on iconic journalist David Walsh, and his persistence to reveal Armstrong as a fraud.
The film is directed by Stephen Frears, and stars Ben Foster as Armstrong, Jesse Plemons, Lee Pace, Chris O'Dowd, Dustin Hoffman and Brian Greenberg.