Lance Oppenheim’s film “Primetime” was released on Friday. “Primetime” is a psychological thriller that follows real journalist Chris Hansen and his program “To Catch a Predator.” It’s important to distinguish the fact that Primetime is not a biopic; it uses fictional events to create plot while taking real stories that happened and combining them. The film was written by Ajon Singh and is based on the article “Tonight on Dateline, This Man Will Die” by Luke Dittrich.
High expectations going into this film, does Primetime deliver and earn its nighty time slot? Let’s Dig in!
The best place to begin with this film is the performances. Robert Pattinson plays our leading main: Hansen from Dateline NBC. Pattinson crushes the performance, with the voice, the mannerisms and how unhinged he is. He does a phenomenal job with what he’s given. The rest of the cast shines too; while Pattinson’s playing an out-there version of Hansen, Merritt Wever’s role of Andie feels like a real person. A producer focused on profit over everything, while reflecting on her career at the same time. Then Skyler Gisondo as Decoy Dan Plum, a haunting performance, where you can feel his trauma along with him.
The cinematography of the film is solid. Some tasteful, fulfilling shots and great lighting. The sleek 2000s nostalgic aesthetic helps the film’s tone, of that post 9/11 eeriness, where everything was America first. The film captures it quite well.
That is where my praise comes to an end. My biggest gripe with the film is how it doesn’t have much to say about the issue the show it’s based on presents. It depicts a shallow look at how the show was more about profit than actually addressing the issue in society.
We all know a television show made in a capitalist society, no matter what, is about profit over morals. The film has nothing to say about the predators being caught; it just uses them as a comedic element instead of treating them as serious problems.
The only way the film does portray predatory themes is with the character of Dan Plum, how the show preyed on his dreams and made him believe this show was his future. That leads to more issues with writing. This version of Hansen feels over the top at times; his cartoony reactions to things are played great by Pattinson, but feels out of place. Then the desire to be number one just feels off.
The film focuses more on Hansen wanting to take down “Lost” than on how the show failed to catch these predators to help children. There’s also an affair subplot that does absolutely nothing of note. If it were removed from the film, nothing would change.
Then there’s a scene where Hansen tells Plum about a story of him visiting a village in India. All of it feels out of place and adds this monster to the story. The monster is an interesting choice, as it can be how Hansen views these predators, but depicting the predators as monsters undermines how they operate.
These predators are human beings who could be anyone and likening them to monsters may be a legitimate comparison. It undermines who these predators are and how they could be anyone. It tries to balance a lot of ideas at once but can’t hold on to any.
“Primetime” is a film with a lot of style but not enough substance. It’s an entertaining viewing experience with some memorable, uneasy and funny moments. The performances are great, but I’m left wanting more. It left me asking “What is this film really about?”
I wish it dove deeper into the issue the original show presented; instead of dipping into various topics, a set focus would’ve benefited the film. It feels like the film is doing the exact same thing the show did in the past.
3/5