The Program
Encyclopedia
The Program is a 1993
film starring James Caan, Halle Berry
, Omar Epps
, Craig Sheffer
, Kristy Swanson
, Daniel Lee, and Joey Lauren Adams
. The film was directed by David S. Ward
who has directed and written other Hollywood films such as the Major League
series.
The film touches on the season of the fictional college football
team, the ESU Timberwolves as they deal with the pressure to make a bowl game
, drug and alcohol abuse
, and overall college life. It follows the trials of Coach Sam Winters (Caan), the Heisman Trophy
candidate Joe Kane (Sheffer), the freshman
running back
Darnell Jefferson (Epps), their girlfriends (Berry & Swanson), and other team members.
The film was released by Touchstone Pictures
in September 1993. The movie went on to gross over twenty million dollars at the box office
. The film was shot on location at several American
universities, including: Boston College
, Duke University
, the University of Michigan
, the University of Iowa
, and the University of South Carolina
. The film includes a cameo appearance from Miami University
and Michigan
coaching legend Bo Schembechler
.
The film then cuts to the following fall, as football season is about to get underway. Fall camp commences, with Jefferson fumbling during practice and subsequently forced to carry a football with him at all times. Winters warns that if any other player brings the football back to him, "you'll wish you were never born." Kane has trouble with the pressure put upon him by the school and its Heisman campaign prepared for him, and drinks to deal with his stress. He meets a tennis player, Camille, (Kristy Swanson) and as their first date they go on a thrilling and scary motorcycle ride. They then develop a relationship. Mack's indifference to academics is shown clearly in a tutoring session where he couldn't care less about learning the material, but his strong ability to read offenses and football strategy during film study shows his commitment to football. Lattimer is obviously taking performance-enhancing drugs as he goes from a backup to starter on defense in one season (after gaining 30 lbs. of muscle in the offseason), and showing signs of "roid rage" when he learns he will be a starter at the beginning of the season. Lattimer walks into the parking lot, and shatters car windows with his head while screaming "STARTING DEFENSE!! PLACE AT THE TABLE!!"
The film progresses to show the problems of a "big-time" football program. Winters' daughter is expelled for taking a test for Bobby Collins, a backup quarterback. Kane and ESU then lose a close game to Michigan, calling into question Kane's ability to win the Heisman. Later incidents occur when Lattimer assaults a girl unwilling to "hook up" with him, but her father is a large football booster and gets her to drop the charges (Lattimer is forced to take urine tests with coach Winters watching). Lattimer is suspended for three games based on this steroid use. All-American Alvin Mack criticizes him, but Lattimer defends himself by saying "Not everyone has your ability Alvin, you do what you have to do to play." Also, Kane is forced into rehab when he is involved in a bar fight and DUI after the Michigan loss. With Kane out for 4 games, the team goes 2-2.
After losing to Iowa where Mack suffers a career ending injury also, Lattimer is run over at the goal line by the Iowa running back (the film implying that Lattimer is weaker without steroids) for the winning score, promptimg Lattimer to return to the steroids. ESU has a final game against Georgia Tech. This game will win the Eastern Athletic Conference (EAC) and secure a major bowl game. GT leads the game 10-0 at the half. Joe Kane was benched for Bobby Collins but asked to start in the 2nd half. After a returning struggle in the third quarter, he proceeds to lead the team to victory, securing a major bowl game. The film ends with Kane reuniting with Camille offering her another six pack ride (this time it's Sprite
instead of beer), and the coaches leaving on a recruiting trip to look for next season's freshmen.
college football preview issue with him on the front cover. He then lies down the middle of a road on the yellow line
as cars barely pass him at highway speeds. Several team members who are at first trying to stop Kane decide that it is a test of their bravery and team unity and join him. Influenced by the film, several teenagers imitated this scene and were either killed or suffered injuries. This resulted in the scene being removed from the film after its release. A brief clip of the scene in question showing team members lying in the street had already been aired repeatedly in the television commercials for the film and therefore captured on VCRs. Later versions of the trailer had the offending clip removed.
The only known home video release with this scene intact is the Hong Kong laserdisc
published by Taishan International. This version of the film is three minutes longer than the theatrical cut and clocks in at a 115-minute run time.
1993 in film
The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...
film starring James Caan, Halle Berry
Halle Berry
Halle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
, Omar Epps
Omar Epps
Omar Hashim Epps is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His film roles include Major League II, Juice, Higher Learning, Scream 2, The Wood, In Too Deep, and Love and Basketball. Epps' television work includes the role of Dr. Dennis Gant on the US medical drama series ER,...
, Craig Sheffer
Craig Sheffer
Craig Eric Sheffer is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading role as Norman Maclean in the film A River Runs Through It and of Keith Scott on the television series One Tree Hill.-Early life:...
, Kristy Swanson
Kristy Swanson
Kristen Nöel "Kristy" Swanson is an American actress best known for playing Buffy in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she also played Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger in the movie version of the V.C...
, Daniel Lee, and Joey Lauren Adams
Joey Lauren Adams
Joey Lauren Adams is an American actress who has appeared in more than thirty films. She is known for her distinctive, raspy voice and for her roles in View Askewniverse films, particularly Mallrats and Chasing Amy, with the latter giving her a Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination.-Career:She...
. The film was directed by David S. Ward
David S. Ward
David Schad Ward is an American film director and screen writer.-Life and career:Ward was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Miriam and Robert McCollum Ward. Ward has degrees from Pomona College , as well as both USC and the UCLA Film School...
who has directed and written other Hollywood films such as the Major League
Major League (film)
Major League is a 1989 American satire comedy film written and directed by David S. Ward, starring Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, James Gammon, and Corbin Bernsen. Made for US$11 million, Major League grossed nearly US$50 million in domestic release...
series.
The film touches on the season of the fictional college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
team, the ESU Timberwolves as they deal with the pressure to make a bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
, drug and alcohol abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
, and overall college life. It follows the trials of Coach Sam Winters (Caan), the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
candidate Joe Kane (Sheffer), the freshman
Freshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...
running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
Darnell Jefferson (Epps), their girlfriends (Berry & Swanson), and other team members.
The film was released by Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
in September 1993. The movie went on to gross over twenty million dollars at the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
. The film was shot on location at several American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
universities, including: Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
, Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
, and the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
. The film includes a cameo appearance from Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
coaching legend Bo Schembechler
Bo Schembechler
Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, Jr. was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234–65–8...
.
Synopsis
The ESU Timberwolves are entering a season with high expectations after two disappointing seasons. The film begins with a loss to end the prior season, along with the school president putting pressure on Sam Winters to win this coming season or face a possible firing. Quarterback Joe Kane spends the Christmas bowl season with his alcoholic father and brother, while NFL prospect Alvin Mack gives his mother a present to go with the new house she will soon have when he turns pro. The film then follows the recruiting of Darnell Jefferson, a highly rated running back, and his eventual commitment to ESU.The film then cuts to the following fall, as football season is about to get underway. Fall camp commences, with Jefferson fumbling during practice and subsequently forced to carry a football with him at all times. Winters warns that if any other player brings the football back to him, "you'll wish you were never born." Kane has trouble with the pressure put upon him by the school and its Heisman campaign prepared for him, and drinks to deal with his stress. He meets a tennis player, Camille, (Kristy Swanson) and as their first date they go on a thrilling and scary motorcycle ride. They then develop a relationship. Mack's indifference to academics is shown clearly in a tutoring session where he couldn't care less about learning the material, but his strong ability to read offenses and football strategy during film study shows his commitment to football. Lattimer is obviously taking performance-enhancing drugs as he goes from a backup to starter on defense in one season (after gaining 30 lbs. of muscle in the offseason), and showing signs of "roid rage" when he learns he will be a starter at the beginning of the season. Lattimer walks into the parking lot, and shatters car windows with his head while screaming "STARTING DEFENSE!! PLACE AT THE TABLE!!"
The film progresses to show the problems of a "big-time" football program. Winters' daughter is expelled for taking a test for Bobby Collins, a backup quarterback. Kane and ESU then lose a close game to Michigan, calling into question Kane's ability to win the Heisman. Later incidents occur when Lattimer assaults a girl unwilling to "hook up" with him, but her father is a large football booster and gets her to drop the charges (Lattimer is forced to take urine tests with coach Winters watching). Lattimer is suspended for three games based on this steroid use. All-American Alvin Mack criticizes him, but Lattimer defends himself by saying "Not everyone has your ability Alvin, you do what you have to do to play." Also, Kane is forced into rehab when he is involved in a bar fight and DUI after the Michigan loss. With Kane out for 4 games, the team goes 2-2.
After losing to Iowa where Mack suffers a career ending injury also, Lattimer is run over at the goal line by the Iowa running back (the film implying that Lattimer is weaker without steroids) for the winning score, promptimg Lattimer to return to the steroids. ESU has a final game against Georgia Tech. This game will win the Eastern Athletic Conference (EAC) and secure a major bowl game. GT leads the game 10-0 at the half. Joe Kane was benched for Bobby Collins but asked to start in the 2nd half. After a returning struggle in the third quarter, he proceeds to lead the team to victory, securing a major bowl game. The film ends with Kane reuniting with Camille offering her another six pack ride (this time it's Sprite
Sprite (soft drink)
Sprite is a transparent, lemon-lime flavored , caffeine free soft drink, produced by the Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced in the United States in 1961. This was Coke's response to the popularity of 7 Up, which had begun as "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" in 1929...
instead of beer), and the coaches leaving on a recruiting trip to look for next season's freshmen.
Season Schedule and Results
- Mississippi State @ ESU - 20-28 (Win)
- Michigan @ ESU - 20-14 (Loss)(score is a guess based on Kane's 2 TD performance and ESU not attempting a tying FG at closing of game)
- ESU @ Boston College - 14-10 (Win)
- Texas @ ESU - 13-0 (Loss)
- ESU @ North Carolina - 14-13 (Win)
- ESU @ Iowa - 10-14 (Loss)
- Georgia Tech @ ESU - 10-13 (Win)
Characters
List of major characters in The Program- Coach Sam Winters : James Caan
- Autumn Haley : Halle BerryHalle BerryHalle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
- Darnell Jefferson : Omar EppsOmar EppsOmar Hashim Epps is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His film roles include Major League II, Juice, Higher Learning, Scream 2, The Wood, In Too Deep, and Love and Basketball. Epps' television work includes the role of Dr. Dennis Gant on the US medical drama series ER,...
- Joe Kane : Craig ShefferCraig ShefferCraig Eric Sheffer is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading role as Norman Maclean in the film A River Runs Through It and of Keith Scott on the television series One Tree Hill.-Early life:...
- Camille Shafer : Kristy SwansonKristy SwansonKristen Nöel "Kristy" Swanson is an American actress best known for playing Buffy in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she also played Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger in the movie version of the V.C...
- Bud Kaminski : Abraham BenrubiAbraham BenrubiAbraham Rubin Hercules Benrubi is an American character actor known for his appearances as Jerry Markovic on the long-running U.S...
- Steve Lattimer : Andrew BryniarskiAndrew BryniarskiAndrew Bryniarski is an American actor and a former bodybuilder of Russian descent, who is best known for portraying Steve Lattimer in The Program, as well as Leatherface in the remake of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its prequel and Zangief in the live action Street Fighter movie...
- Alvin Mack : Duane DavisDuane DavisDuane Davis, the son of NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis, is an American actor who has been in such films as Ghosts of Mars and Paparazzi. He played Joe Louis in a made-for-TV movie about Rocky Marciano, James "Buster" Douglas in the HBO original movie Tyson and as ESU football star...
- Ray Griffen : J. Leon Pridgen II
- Bobby Collins : Jon Pennell
- Daniel Luciano : Daniel Lee
- Louanne Winters : Joey Lauren AdamsJoey Lauren AdamsJoey Lauren Adams is an American actress who has appeared in more than thirty films. She is known for her distinctive, raspy voice and for her roles in View Askewniverse films, particularly Mallrats and Chasing Amy, with the latter giving her a Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination.-Career:She...
- Reporter #3 : Rhoda GriffisRhoda GriffisRhoda Griffis is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing supporting roles both in independent and mainstream films and television.- Life and career :...
Controversy
The film originally included a scene in which Kane reads aloud comically "It says here that I'm good under pressure," while holding a Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
college football preview issue with him on the front cover. He then lies down the middle of a road on the yellow line
Double-yellow line
A double-yellow line is a common road marking meaning different things in many parts of the world.- United Kingdom :Double yellow lines along the edge of the carriageway indicate that parking restrictions apply to the road...
as cars barely pass him at highway speeds. Several team members who are at first trying to stop Kane decide that it is a test of their bravery and team unity and join him. Influenced by the film, several teenagers imitated this scene and were either killed or suffered injuries. This resulted in the scene being removed from the film after its release. A brief clip of the scene in question showing team members lying in the street had already been aired repeatedly in the television commercials for the film and therefore captured on VCRs. Later versions of the trailer had the offending clip removed.
The only known home video release with this scene intact is the Hong Kong laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
published by Taishan International. This version of the film is three minutes longer than the theatrical cut and clocks in at a 115-minute run time.
External links
- The Program at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...