“Hello, I’m Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC. I’m calling because your machine stole something from me.”
Watch the rise and fall of Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) and To Catch A Predator. This film is unsettling, uncomfortable, unexpectedly funny, and deeply disturbing. It acts as a deep, probing examination of To Catch A Predator and Chris Hansen. Jonathan Lipnicki, Alex Winters, Anna Farris, and Tony Revolori are all great in surprise roles.
Skyler Gisondo is magnificent as Dan Plumb, the newest decoy for To Catch A Predator. He starts out naive and excited, accepting the role only as a way to hopefully secure an SAG card. As his time with the show continues, we watch him grow jaded and cynical as he begins to question the ethics of the production. Merritt Wever is also great and compelling as Andie Bender, a producer for To Catch A Predator who winds up questioning the ethics and methods of the show as well.
Robert Pattinson is absolutely superb as Chris Hansen. Hansen is not portrayed so much as a villain (an antagonist, sure!) but more as an insecure, narcissistic, egotistical, self-deluded, and deeply flawed man who sees himself as an avenging angel of sorts. He seems to believe he is doing good and yearns to be a legitimate, respected journalist. Despite his protestations to the opposite, he’s really only in this for fame, fortune, and self-publicity/self-promotion.
Pattinson completely nails Hansen’s vocal inflections, manner of speaking, unique accent, and way he carries himself. Much like the real Hansen, Pattinson is darkly charismatic. He dominates the screen whenever he’s on and is impossible to take your eyes off of. Expect him to land an Oscar nomination this year.
Documentarian Lance Oppenheim writes and directs, doing both with ease, confidence, and finesse. David Bolan handles cinematography and Daniel Garber handles editing duties. Due to their hard work, Primetime can look downright transcendent and hypnotic at the best of times, but often has a tactile VHS grain.
Primetime aims to be the modern day Network. It might just succeed in its goal (I’m still undecided as far as how successful Primetime is at this). Primetime invites audiences to self-reflect on the unethical craze of To Catch A Predator and the roles we all played in choosing to eagerly and excitedly devour what it was feeding us. The end product will likely leave most deeply shaken.
4 STARS
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