Tour de Pharmacy

Last updated
Tour de Pharmacy
Tour de Pharmacy.jpg
Official release poster
Written by Murray Miller
Directed by Jake Szymanski
Starring
Narrated by Jon Hamm
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producers
  • M. Elizabeth Hughes
  • Andy Samberg
  • Murray Miller
  • Jake Szymanski
  • David Bernad
CinematographyCraig Kief
Editors
  • Michael Giambra
  • Daniel Reitzenstein
  • Bijan Shams
Running time41 minutes
Release
Original network HBO
Original releaseJuly 8, 2017 (2017-07-08)

Tour de Pharmacy is a 2017 made-for-television mockumentary sports film directed by Jake Szymanski, starring Andy Samberg, Orlando Bloom, Freddie Highmore, Daveed Diggs, and John Cena. [1] [2] [3] It premiered on HBO on July 8, 2017. [4] It is a satire of the various controversies surrounding doping in sports, specifically as it relates to cycling.

Contents

Plot

On the first day of the 1982 Tour de France, Italian cyclist JuJu Peppi (Orlando Bloom) accidentally causes a pileup after attempting to grope a bikini clad female spectator, which causes a massive brawl to break out between all the other cyclists, postponing the race until further notice. Police find evidence of narcotics being used by the cyclists and it is revealed that UCI president Ditmer Klerken (Kevin Bacon) accepted bribes of $50,000 each from a majority of the competitors to forego preliminary drug testing. Although all the cyclists are suspected of doping, the UCI allows the Tour to continue with the five competitors who didn't pay off Klerken: Peppi, American-born Nigerian cyclist Marty Hass (Andy Samberg), who is resented by Nigeria for being the one to represent the country, French cyclist Adrian Baton (Freddie Highmore), who is secretly a woman named Adrianna Baton disguised as a man so she can compete, African-American cyclist Slim Robinson (Daveed Diggs), nephew of Jackie Robinson, who wants to break the color barrier in cycling like Jackie did in baseball, and Austrian cyclist Gustav Ditters (John Cena), who had gained a considerable amount of muscle mass from the previous year due to steroids.

Before resuming the race, the five agree to take turns at the front so everyone else can draft to conserve their energy before the finish line. However, when the race resumes, no one is willing to ride up front, so the cyclists attempt to go as slowly as possible to conserve their energy. This allows Robinson to enjoy the scenery and he eventually leaves the race with a female spectator to become the first black French dairy farmer. Before the end of the day, Ditters is taunted by a spectator for being unable to go fast. When the race resumes ten days later, an enraged Ditters goes as fast as possible to win the day, much to the shock of observers. Believing he had used enhancements, police raid his apartment and find that he had been doping himself with cheetah's blood, which gets Ditters disqualified. When the race resumes, Peppi dies when he overexerts himself, causing his heart to explode within his chest, and falls off a cliff.

Hass and Baton are the only competitors left, but they end up becoming attracted to each other and pause the race to go have sex in the woods. Hass finds out Baton's true identity and agrees to keep it a secret, which inadvertently turns him into a gay sports icon. When they resume the race, they tie their bicycles together to make sure they both win simultaneously. On the final day of the race, BBC reporter Rex Honeycut (James Marsden), who had ridden alongside the competitors for real time interviews during the race, is told that because he had ridden all laps of the race and registered to ride on the Tour, he is eligible to win the Tour de France and makes an attempt to do so. Baton detaches from Hass and jumps at Honeycut, knocking him to the ground so Hass can win the race. Honeycut is shown to have motorized his bicycle to keep up with the cyclists. Baton's true identity is exposed and is sent to 35 years in prison for manslaughter as Honeycut had been accidentally killed during the scuffle.

Hass looks set to win the Tour de France until Robinson, who had missed the thrill of cycling, rushes out to the front and wins the race by 73 feet (22 m). Robinson relishes being the first African-American to excel at cycling like his uncle did at baseball, while Hass laments that Baton's sacrifice was in vain.

Present day interviews are conducted with Hass (Jeff Goldblum), Baton (Julia Ormond), Robinson (Danny Glover), and Ditters (Dolph Lundgren), along with other outside observers, including disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, who insists on remaining anonymous.

Cast

Production

In looking to make a follow up to 7 Days in Hell, Samberg and his crew looked for a sport that could be displayed cheaply while also having comic potential. [5] In researching, the team found "so much strange behavior surrounding the sport," telling Vulture that "...we felt like it was a funny thing to really exaggerate and blow up for comedic purposes." [5] Although much of the cast consists of fans of the sport this was not a prerequisite. Lance Armstrong's role was written in the knowledge that he might not want to be involved, but after being contacted by Samberg, the cyclist agreed to take part. [5]

The film's race scenes were shot over the course of four days, and the interviews filmed over a longer period, to accommodate the stars' schedules. [6] To maintain an 80's aesthetic, much of the race footage was shot on Betamax cameras, with "sideline footage" shot on VHS. [6]

Reception

Critical response

Tour de Pharmacy received generally positive reviews, but some criticized Lance Armstrong's appearance. [7] [8] On the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes , Tour de Pharmacy holds a 90% approval rating based on 20 reviews with an average rating of 7.5/10. [9] On Metacritic , the film has a score of 71 out of 100 based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [10]

The Atlantic 's Sophie Gilbert commented, "it takes the thorny subject of doping in professional cycling and turns it into pure, gleeful mayhem", later calling the mockumentary "insane, filthy, and totally fun". [11] Uproxx 's Alan Sepinwall praised the film for its silliness, calling it the "funniest 40 minutes of TV you’ll see this week". [7] The San Francisco Chronicle 's David Wiegand commented that "early moments of the film almost feel like a real documentary". [12] The New York Times ' Neil Genzlinger asked whether it was "O.K. for a mockumentary about a tarnished sport to include in its cast the athlete responsible for much of the tarnishing?", questioning whether Lance Armstrong's appearance "will leave an icky aftertaste". Genzlinger also called "this star-filled parody [...] a hilarious home run". [13] The Los Angeles Times ' Robert Lloyd wrote, "it's a sketch, essentially, effectively blown out to 40 minutes — not too short, not too long." [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 2001 Tour de France was a multiple-stage bicycle race held from 7 to 29 July, and the 88th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005. The verdict was subsequently confirmed by the Union Cycliste Internationale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 2002 Tour de France was a multiple-stage bicycle race held from 6 to 28 July, and the 89th edition of the Tour de France. The event started in Luxembourg and ended in Paris. The Tour circled France counter-clockwise, visiting the Pyrenees before the Alps. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005; the Union Cycliste Internationale confirmed the result.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 2003 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 5 to 27 July, and the 90th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005; the Union Cycliste Internationale has confirmed this verdict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyler Hamilton</span> American cyclist (born 1971)

Tyler Hamilton is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He is the only American rider to win one of the five Monuments of cycling, taking Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2003. Hamilton became a professional cyclist in 1995 with the US Postal Service cycling team. He was a teammate of Lance Armstrong during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tours de France, where Armstrong won the general classification. He was a key asset for Armstrong, being a very good climber as well as time-trialist. Hamilton appeared at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2004, he won a gold medal at the individual time trial. The first doping test after his Olympic victory gave a positive result, but because the backup sample was frozen, no doping offence could be proven. After he failed further doping tests at the 2004 Vuelta a España, Hamilton was suspended for two years from the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 2–24 July, with 21 stages covering a distance 3,593 km (2,233 mi). It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced on 24 August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1 August 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005. The verdict was subsequently confirmed by the UCI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filippo Simeoni</span> Italian cyclist

Filippo Simeoni is an Italian former racing cyclist and the 2008 Italian road race champion. Simeoni won two stages in the Vuelta a España in 2001 and 2003, and the 2008 Italian National Road Race Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Critérium du Dauphiné</span> French multi-day road cycling race

The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part of the UCI World Tour calendar and counts as one of the foremost races in the lead-up to the Tour de France in July, along with the Tour de Suisse in the latter half of June.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floyd Landis</span> American cyclist

Floyd Landis is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He finished first at the 2006 Tour de France, and would have been the third non-European winner in the event's history, but was disqualified after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The competition was ultimately won by Óscar Pereiro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Liggett</span> Cycling commentator

Philip Alexander Liggett is an English commentator and journalist who covers professional cycling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johan Bruyneel</span> Directeur sportif and former road bicycle racer

Johan Bruyneel is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer and a former directeur sportif for UCI ProTour team RadioShack–Nissan, and U.S. Postal Service, a US-based UCI ProTour cycling team. On 25 October 2018, the World Anti Doping Agency imposed a lifetime ban on Bruyneel for his role in a doping scandal that also saw Lance Armstrong stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Andreu</span> American cyclist

Francisco "Frankie" Andreu is an American former professional cyclist whose career highlights include riding as team captain of the U.S. Postal Service cycling team in 1998, 1999 and 2000. During his career, he won a number of race stages and finished fourth in the cycling road race at the 1996 Olympics. His testimony played a key part in the United States Anti-Doping Agency's investigation of fellow U.S. Postal cyclist Lance Armstrong's doping practices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 1999 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 86th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven consecutive Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005 ; the Union Cycliste Internationale confirmed the result.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cofidis (cycling team)</span> French cycling team

Cofidis Solutions Crédits is a French professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by a money-lending company, Cofidis. It was started in 1996 by Cyrille Guimard, the former manager of Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon of the Renault–Elf–Gitane team of the 1980s. The team's sponsor has supported the team despite repeated problems such as doping scandals. After it was part of the UCI ProTour for the ProTour's first five seasons, from 2010 the team competed as a UCI Professional Continental team. The team joined the UCI World Tour for the 2020 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2000 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 2000 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 1 to 23 July, and the 87th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced on 24 August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1 August 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005; the Union Cycliste Internationale confirmed the result.

Steffen Kjærgaard is a Norwegian former professional cyclist. Kjærgaard cycled for US Postal Service (2000–2003). He competed in the individual pursuit at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He twice participated in the Tour de France, taking 89th place in 2000 and 101st place in 2001; in both years team captain Lance Armstrong initially won overall but was later disqualified due to doping. Known as a strong time-trial cyclist, Kjærgaard won the overall World Cup in track cycling in 1993. He won the Norwegian National Road Race Championship in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 3 July with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996. The race visited three countries: the Netherlands, Belgium and France, and finished on 25 July on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lance Armstrong</span> American cyclist (born 1971)

Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering from testicular cancer, he was later stripped of all his titles when an investigation found that he had used performance-enhancing drugs over his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Lance Armstrong doping allegations</span> Cycling doping allegations

For much of the second phase of his career, American cyclist Lance Armstrong faced constant allegations of doping, including doping at the Tour de France and in the Lance Armstrong doping case. Armstrong vehemently denied allegations of using performance enhancing drugs for 13 years, until a confession during a broadcast interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2013, when he finally admitted to all his cheating in sports, stating, “I view this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times”.

Stephen Swart is a former New Zealand cyclist. He began his professional career with British team, ANC-Halfords and rode the 1987 Tour de France with them. After the ANC team folded later that year, he rode for American teams.

References

  1. ↑ Getell, Oliver (July 15, 2016). "Andy Samberg reteams with HBO for doping comedy Tour de Pharmacy". Entertainment Weekly . Time . Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  2. ↑ Petski, Denise (July 15, 2016). "Andy Samberg & Murray Miller Return To HBO With Sports Doping Mockumentary". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  3. ↑ Ausiello, Michael (July 15, 2016). "Andy Samberg's Bike Doping Limited Series Tour de Pharmacy Ordered at HBO, Hamilton's Daveed Diggs to Star". TVLine . Penske Business Media . Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ Wright, Megh (May 19, 2017). "Andy Samberg's HBO Mockumentary 'Tour de Pharmacy' Premieres in July". Vulture Comedy. New York Media . Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 Yuan, Jada (July 8, 2017). "Andy Samberg on His HBO Sports-Comedy Tour de Pharmacy, Male Genitalia, and What's Next for Brooklyn Nine-Nine". Vulture. New York Media . Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Miller, Liz Shannon (July 8, 2017). "'Tour De Pharmacy': How The HBO Cycling Mockumentary Packed In Its Incredible Stars, Including Lance Armstrong". IndieWire . Penske Business Media . Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  7. 1 2 Sepinwall, Alan (July 6, 2017). "The '7 Days In Hell' Team Reunites For The Silliness Of 'Tour De Pharmacy'". Sepinwall. Uproxx . Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  8. ↑ Fienberg, Daniel (July 6, 2017). "Tour de Pharmacy: TV review". The Hollywood Reporter . Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Tour de Pharmacy (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Tour de Pharmacy Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  11. ↑ Gilbert, Sophie (July 7, 2017). "Competitive Cycling Gets an Absurd, Star-Studded Mockumentary". The Atlantic . The Atlantic Monthly Group. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  12. ↑ Wiegand, David (July 3, 2017). "'Tour de Pharmacy' is dopey fun". San Francisco Chronicle . Hearst Communications . Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  13. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (July 6, 2017). "Review: Raunchy Detours on the 'Tour de Pharmacy'". The New York Times . Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  14. ↑ Lloyd, Robert (July 7, 2017). "Andy Samberg's 'Tour de Pharmacy' is loaded with cameos and comedy". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 27, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.