Le programme: Vaincre à tout prix

That's the best way to describe 1993's "The Program" in as few words as possible. It's a realistic drama/sports film focusing on a handful of players and their stories as individuals and members of the ESU Timberwolves.

I was well into the second half of the film when it dawned on me that I was into the characters' stories and had forgotten I was watching a movie, which is always a good sign. The characters include the quarterback (Craig Sheffer) who has to deal with the incredible pressure of his position and the fact that his Dad's an aloof drunkard who's given up on life; the linebacker who takes steroids to compete and starts to become a rage-oholic; the black dude from the ghetto who memorizes big words to appear smart; and more. For most of them, their lives and futures hinge on the game and so getting seriously injured can wipe out their very reason for existence. James Caan is notable as the coach.

As for women, there's Halle Berry in her prime and Kristy Swanson, but their roles are too limited and there are essentially no other women to be found, except cheerleaders & students in the background.

People who have played university football have pointed out that "The Program" is realistic in its depiction. It's a really good sports film for sure, but 1999's "Varsity Blues," which focuses on Texas high school football, edges it out. In fact, "Varsity Blues" ranks with my all-time favorite movies; it's got a more compelling story & characters, a funner vibe and better women. But both of them are must-see sports flicks.

The film runs 112 minutes and was shot at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, and the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.

GRADE: B+

I'm not a football fan, although it's not like I haven't enjoyed football films from the past.... such as "North Dallas Forty," "Semi-Tough," and "The Longest Yard." Not that any of those were pure football movies, but maybe that's why I enjoyed them. So I didn't look at "The Program" from the eyes of a football fan, but from the perspective of whether it's a good movie or not. Certainly it's very professionally made and acted, and the football scenes are pretty exciting. (The point-of-view shots with the football helmet's bars in the foreground made you feel like you were there, as in any self-respecting shoot 'em up video game.)

The main reason why I was attracted to give "The Program" a peek was that I was in a James Caan state of mind... having recently seen him in "Warden of Red Rock," and rediscovering what a fine actor he can be. My first disappointment is that Caan, as the coach, is present mainly as a vehicle to keep the film moving along. He fixes things when the boys screw up, acts tough, makes appropriate facial expressions... and is basically a one-dimensional character with no depth. Naturally, the film has decided to focus on the lives of the football players, as youth sells.

Basically, we pursue the love lives of two jocks. Joe makes a play for Camille (played by the original Buffy, Kristy Swanson), while Darnell zeroes in on Autumn (Halle Berry... who helps make the movie come alive), after suckering her to tutor him. In both instances, both women are vehemently against dating these guys. (Camille, in fact, flat out states that she does not go out with football players; she ultimately does so by losing a bet.) Now, it's nothing new in movies... as sometimes in real life... for a fellow to court a reluctant girl only to win her over at the end. I know we like to see that sort of thing. However, neither of these young men had the kinds of characteristics that would turn these girls' pretty heads in the manner that they did. Darnell's sweet, but not educated enough to hold a sharp gal like Autumn for long; and Joe can be a smarty-pants, smirking jerk at times, especially for a hard-nosed and demanding sort that Camille is initially established to be.

However, not only do the girls fall for these guys (and, granted, some women have been known to fall in love for no good reason)... but they do so in a totally devoted and nearly altruistic way. I could have bought one of the female characters doing so, but both? How very unrealistic; in real life, unless a woman feels that immediate click... before surrendering so completely... usually she will make a man jump through many more hoops than what these lucky b******s go through. We're just moving the plot along, folks.

This is a great display of how Hollywood movies are made... I can imagine the screenplay being discussed by the marketing whizzes at Disney, where the committee of account executives decided that everything should safely and neatly fall into place. All the predictable cliches have that neat, happy ending... Darnell finally bonds with his rival, for example; Joe's neglectful father is shown tuning into to his son's big game. Yes, the movie pushes the right buttons, but there is no soul within; like in so many Hollywood cookie-cutter films... films that are, too often, hard to distinguish one from the next.

Eastern State University football coach Sam Winters (James Caan) is under pressure after a second year unable to get into a bowl game. His quarterback Joe Kane (Craig Sheffer) is dealing with an alcoholic father and a Heisman campaign. He falls for tennis player Camille Shafer (Kristy Swanson). The big recruiting effort is tailback Darnell Jefferson (Omar Epps) and they use female student Autumn Haley (Halle Berry) as the lure. Once in school, he finds that she already has a boyfriend who is the starting tailback. Alvin Mack promises to buy his mother a house counting on signing an NFL contract. Andrew Bryniarski is the muscle-bound lineman found using steroids and attacking a girl.

This seems like a greatest hit of college football scandals. The scattered approach leaves this problematic. I don't have a big problem with any of the stories but none of them really takes the lead. Sheffer isn't compelling enough to be the star. Omar Epps comes close to be star material and it would be interesting to have him as the lead character. There are just too many main story material.

The Program may very well be the best film on college football ever done in that it shows its not quite the way it was when Pat O'Brien was playing Knute Rockne or even when Knute Rockne himself was coaching at Notre Dame.

During the Nineties another classic film about professional football was done, Any Given Sunday. The main theme about Any Given Sunday was that sports was now more business than anything else. But pro football has always been a business. What The Program shows is just how much a business college football is, yet it maintains the fiction that this is amateur athletics.

As is so eloquently put, no one is going to pay for a ticket to see a chemistry exam. Football with its ticket revenue, its alumni contributions, it's TV and radio rights, it's memorabilia rights is a very big business. It brings in money for the colleges, hence the colleges have a vested interest in a winning team. And some will do quite a bit more than others.

James Caan does a fine job as the coach of mythical ESU who is a decent man caught up in the system. He operates his program straining the bounds of ethics. He knows full well that some of his kids are being greased right through college without an education, but football is his life and living and Caan operates the best he can.

His players are a cross section of young America. Craig Sheffer is the very talented quarterback from a white trash background trying hard to rise above it. Omar Epps is the inner city ghetto kid who sees football as his ticket out. Andrew Bryniarski is the defensive player that steroids gave us, something Caan pretends not to notice until it really smacks him in the face. By the way Bryniarski was also in Any Given Sunday.

My favorite in the entire film is Duane Davis who is another kid from the ghetto who both really loves the game, can barely read and write, and who also sees it as a way of rising from poverty. He's a nice kid, but a bad influence on Epps who he constantly tells that The Program will grease him through. Davis just lives for that National Football League contract.

I do love the way Davis psyches himself before a scrimmage. You have to see the film to appreciate. Sad to say his is the saddest of all the stories here. You have to be made of stone to not be moved by seeing him at home, leg in a cast, listening to the final championship game with his mother, knowing the future he foresaw for himself is blasted to smithereens.

Halle Berry and Kristy Swanson are there as love interests to both Epps and Sheffer respectively. There characters are quite a bit more than the usual air-headed cheerleaders cast in these parts.

Another good performance is John Maynard Pennell as Sheffer's second string backup. He romances and talks Caan's daughter into taking an exam for him. When she's caught both are expelled. Caan personally kicks him out of the university and then has to swallow his pride and a good deal more to bring Pennell back when Sheffer has to go into rehab. That's also a classic scene.

The Program is one of the finest, if not the finest film on college football ever done. I think more than sports fans will appreciate this finely crafted piece of cinema.

The Program is an extremely pumped up look at college football and at individual players on a college team. Speaking from experience as a college player, most of the things in this movie are grossly exaggerrated (no teammates I played with ever wanted me to spit in their mouth). However, there are a few revealing moments in this movie that capture life on a college football program. Standard performances, directing and screenplay are adequate in this film, but its true enjoyment will be by those who have participated in organized football, especially college. A rating of 7 out of 10 was given.