The movie grazes against all the tropes of big-business college football: injuries, academic malfesance, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual assault, poverty, violence, malformed relationships, egos...EVERYTHING. But then, after each trope is given it's minute or so of screen time, the conflict is simply swept away. The attempted rape is covered up, the drunk driver gets rehab, the cheater is allowed back into school, and the girl realizes she just can't live without the assh*le-with-a-heart-of-gold quarterback. All of these things are SERIOUS PROBLEMS, but the movie simply glides by them with barely a glance, coming to rest on a warm, fuzzy, "we'll get 'em next year!" These people are AWFUL, and the movie IGNORES it to arrive at...at what? There's no resolution, it's just an ending.
At heart, THE PROGRAM says nothing, illustrates nothing, is nothing. It's a movie trying to be edgy and deep without understanding any of the issues it pretends to grapple with.