James Caan and Halle Berry in The Program - The Memorable TV DVD Review

Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Certificate: MA15+ | 100 minutes
Available to buy
Director: David S Ward
Reviewer: Alan R
Extras: No

ANYONE IN IT WE KNOW?

James Caan, Halle Berry , Craig Sheffer, Omar Epps, Kristy Swanson

WHAT’S IT ABOUT THEN?

The story follows an academic year for some of the players in The Empire State University Football team (that's American Football, not soccer). The team is taken very seriously by the university and star players are usually given special privileges and more leeway in their other subjects.

The star player and captain is Joe Kane (Sheffer) whom the university promote in the media accordingly. The film follows his story and his anger at his rejection by his alcoholic father. The other principal actor whose story is shown is Darnell Jefferson (Epps) who is lagging behind academically and is taking tutoring from another student whom he fancies ( Halle Berry ).

Besides all the player back-story stuff the main plot is the usual sports movie thing of trying to overcome difficulties (injuries, suspensions, etc) and win the league. And which (as usually happens in such films) comes down to the wire in the very last moments of the last game.

SO IS IT ANY GOOD?

It's a fairly average film in terms of drama. As a sporting story it conveys well the on-pitch brutality and power that the players have to put into the game - and contains some good sports-action sequences that look very convincing.

The "Program" of the title is (if I understood correctly) merely a term for the team coach's game-plan for the season.

If you don't know the rules of American Football (like I don't) it's sometimes difficult to understand just what it is they are doing to score points - a bit like watching that game they play in Harry Potter films. So knowing the rules might considerably assist your appreciation of some of the finer points of the game-play sequences.

Apparently when this film was first released in 1993 the studio had to hastily recall all copies and edit out a sequence where the players are laying in the middle of a busy highway to prove their fearlessness to each other because real people had started to recklessly imitate this dangerous stunt. That sequence is present in this DVD release (in it's proper position in the movie itself, not as an extra).

ANY SPECIAL FEATURES?

None.