Pattinson leads stellar cast in gritty drama
Actor Robert Pattinson is having quite the year. After starring alongside Zendaya in the terrific The Drama, he turned in the only performance worth watching in The Odyssey. Now he takes the lead in Primetime, an entertaining, if sometimes hard-to-watch, very loose retelling of the heyday of the Dateline reality show To Catch a Predator and its host, Chris Hansen. Pattinson will be seen in Dune 3 in December, but if you want a sense of just why he may be so in demand, go see Primetime.
Shot in a muted, grainy, VHS-style, the picture’s cinematography matches the grimy nature of its subject matter. Pattinson plays Chris Hansen as an unhinged, narcissistic, fame-obsessed television reporter with a savior complex. He’s convinced that with To Catch a Predator—the early 2000s reality show that entrapped child predators, for those who may have missed it—he’s “cleansing the world of an ancient evil,” as he states at one point. But, the picture asks, at what cost?
That’s a provocative question, and one that both Pattinson and director Lance Oppenheim (who also directed the soon-to-be-released documentary You Can See Everything about everyone’s favorite Silicon Valley villain Elizabeth Holmes) explore with less nuance and more melodrama than might be warranted. But the premise certainly gives Pattinson a juicy role, and, even if the picture itself might leave you feeling like you need a long shower, you never want to look away from Pattinson’s increasingly creepy and disquieting performance. Is Chris helping the world? Or is he only out for fame and fortune? His delight at being moved to a coveted 9:00 pm primetime spot against the network’s juggernaut drama Lost may signal otherwise. And, as portrayed in the script by first-time screenwriter Ajon Singh (based on Luke Dittrich’s 2007 Esquire article), Chris’s own messy personal life, which involved extramarital affairs and blackmail by the National Enquirer, mirrors the exploitative nature of his day job.
The ethics of the surprise sting element of the show, too, in which youthful-looking actors lured men into houses set up with cameras by the Predator team, also pose some thorny questions. Yes, the men are criminals of the worst sort, but is such public shaming the best method of apprehending them? As we watch the fate of a particularly prominent ensnared man unfold, we, along with several of the film’s characters, begin to consider that question.
Having an excellent cast to present such unsavory but weighty materials helps hold our attention. Skyler Gisondo, who played Jimmy Olsen in last year’s Superman, nearly steals the show from Pattinson, and his character, a young actor who Chris dubs Decoy Dan, would make an equally fascinating protagonist. Gisondo plays Dan as so hungry for his big break and obtaining his Screen Actors Guild card that he’s happy to snag any recurring role. Dan’s enthusiasm begins to wane, though, as he becomes increasingly morally conflicted about Chris and a program he starts to find repellent. Pattinson may be a lock for best lead actor come award season, but Gisondo also deserves accolades for his supporting work here.
Merritt Wever (Christy; Severance), too, delivers a strong performance as Andie, Chris’s ratings-obsessed producer who also begins to have doubts about both the show and her host’s mental stability. In smaller roles, Tony Revolori (Grand Budapest Hotel) as an eerily calm predator, Matthew Maher as the founder of Perverted-Justice, the organization that helped Predator find and trap its subjects, Bill and Ted’s Alex Winter as a small-town politician and Chris’s coveted “whale” of a catch, and even musician Phoebe Bridgers as a young actress who shows Dan the ropes of acting as bait all are exceptional in more minor but no less key parts. Only Anna Faris is wasted in a bit part as Chris’s exasperated wife.
Viewers may want to keep in mind that A24, the film’s production company, has stressed that the film is “inspired by true events,” rather than a true-to-life biopic. And the real Chris Hansen has distanced himself from the film, calling it “detached from reality,” and stating that he’s “not sure what the point of it was.” While the film’s point may not be to accurately depict the career of an actual person, as a piece of entertaining dramatic fiction, it more than serves its purpose.
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Primetime is currently playing, including at the AMC Metreon, AMC Kabuki, Apple Van Ness, Marina Theater, Landmark Opera Plaza, and Alamo Drafthouse in San Francisco; the AMC Bay Street in Emeryville; the Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley; the Landmark Piedmont, Regal Jack London, and Grand Lake in Oakland; and the Cinemark Century Walnut Creek.
