“Have a seat.”
Those words were memorably said by Chris Hansen, the “Dateline NBC” correspondent who hosted the provocative reality series “To Catch a Predator” during the 2000s.
Hansen, notably, had zero involvement in the making of A24’s new film, “Primetime,” which was adapted from a 2007 Esquire article titled “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die.” In fact, according to Hansen, the studio wanted him to sign a restrictive agreement before showing him the movie, which he refused to do.
After watching “Primetime,” you can see why A24 was hoping for a legal cover. Because unless you’re Hansen or any other key people involved, it’s difficult to know where the reality ends and where the fiction begins.
Robert Pattinson steps into the role as Hansen, a self-aggrandizing and rather eccentric journalist eying to be taken seriously by his NBC colleagues — perhaps with the success of “To Catch a Predator.”
If you aren’t familiar, “To Catch a Predator” exposed men who believed they were meeting minors after sexually explicit online conversations. Instead, they walked into sting operations that typically ended with Hansen emerging from another room to confront them before police made arrests.
The show’s producer, Andie Bender (Merritt Wever) is just as essential as its star. Her job is to keep the engine running and to make sure Hansen doesn’t drift into a mental abyss. It isn’t until she and Hansen are brought into the office of NBC chief Jeff Zucker (humorously played by Zucker himself), who informs them he’s moving their show into primetime, giving them the daunting task of going up against ABC juggernaut “LOST” in the same time slot.
In “Primetime,” the predators are also the prey as Hansen and his team go to incredible lengths to nab a creep, but more importantly, to make great television. Some members of the team grapple with the ethics and morality of their line of work. Hansen, at least the film’s version of him, views himself as a saint, carrying out a righteous mission despite his own shortcomings in his personal life. But it’s far more nuanced for new hire Dan Plumb (Skyler Gisondo), a 23-year-old aspiring actor hired to play a 13-year-old decoy. You can tell how visibly shaken he is by the process, and he struggles with whether obtaining the coveted Screen Actors Guild membership card is worth ruining other people’s lives for.
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Pattinson has had an impressive year between “The Drama” and “The Odyssey” (not to mention “Dune: Part Three” in December), proving he’s come a long way from his “Twilight” days. He gives a career-best performance as a self-obsessed, borderline unhinged NBC host. While he gets top billing, the emotional crutch of the entire movie rests on Gisondo’s shoulders. Best known for his stint on HBO’s “The Righteous Gemstones” and more recently playing Jimmy Olsen in the new “Superman” movie, Gisondo is able to show depth from Dan’s charming naivety to utter demoralization. Wever also shines as the no-nonsense producer who has to put up with a lot of nonsense.
Director Lance Oppenheim’s background in documentaries shows in “Primetime” between the reliance on the hidden cameras that only fuels the intensity and the cutaways to various cultural references. The low-resolution style takes viewers back to a pre-4K era and the shadows provide a noir element.
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What can be viewed as an indictment of how sleazy the television industry can be, “Primetime” isn’t exactly the feel-good movie of the year, but it’s a riveting thriller that showcases outstanding performances from Pattinson, Gisondo and Wever.
“Primetime” is rated R for disturbing sexual material, graphic nudity, some violent content, and language. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes. In theaters now.
