Robert Pattinson lands chilling ‘Primetime’ portrayal despite tepid framing
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.
Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime” opens with Dateline NBC correspondent Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) rehearsing lines for his upcoming episode of “To Catch a Predator,” a reality TV show. In the real-life series, Hansen confronts actual sexual predators who meet up with adult actors posing as minors at sting houses.
From the start, Pattinson’s performance was unnerving.
Likely a nod to Robert De Niro’s final scene in “Raging Bull,” Hansen is fixated on his dressing room mirror, obsessed with his own myth. Hansen’s shoulder blades protrude from his arched back, reminiscent of Joaquin Phoenix’s physical performance in “Joker.”
You see how this looks, right?
De Niro and Phoenix’s respective performances earned them both the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. And while it’s too early to tell if Pattinson will take home the Oscar, he’ll certainly have a seat among nominees this March.
Released on Friday, Oppenheim’s “Primetime” is a dramatized version of Hansen’s time hosting “To Catch a Predator,” chronicling the show’s rise in success and eventual cancellation. Fueled by exceptional cinematography and arguably Pattinson’s career-best performance, “Primetime” is one of the better films released this year. However, its muddled messages hold it back from being truly great.
Primarily set in 2006, Hansen and Andie Bender (Merritt Wever), a fictionalized producer of “To Catch a Predator,” meet with then-CEO of NBCUniversal TV Group Jeff Zucker, who plays himself.
Because of the program’s successful ratings, Zucker places “To Catch a Predator” in the primetime slot, competing with ABC’s “Lost” for viewership. Hansen is consumed by ratings and his behavior becomes increasingly erratic.
Meanwhile, Dan Plum (Skyler Gisondo), an aspiring actor, gets cast for the show. Plum — who Hansen fittingly calls “Decoy Dan” — portrays a teenage boy, luring predators to sting houses. Then, Hansen appears from inside the houses, revealing to the predators that they’re being exposed on TV.
A police officer working in a small Texas city sends a fan letter to the show’s crew. This prompts Xavier Von Erck (Matthew Mahe), who locates predators online by posing as a minor in chat rooms, to search that Texas city for suspects.
Xavier finds a potential culprit who seems to be a Texas elected official; Hansen and Xavier call him “The Whale.” While seeking out “The Whale,” Hansen receives calls from a National Enquirer reporter who discovered he was having an affair.
From the moment I saw the first “Primetime” trailer, I knew Pattinson would knock this role out of the park. The 40-year-old has become an A-list celebrity who can sell seats for his name alone.
Pattinson’s 2026 has already been incredibly stacked. He starred in “The Drama” and played Antinous in “The Odyssey” (not to mention he’s in “Dune: Part Three,” which releases in December). But his portrayal of Hansen in “Primetime” trumps those roles.
Pattinson’s impression of Hansen’s voice is the most immediately noticeable aspect of his performance. His matter-of-fact delivery makes for hilarious lines, ominous moments and sometimes both. The real-life Hansen even admitted that his family found the imitation to be “pretty good” after the trailer was released.
Still, the most impressive part of Pattinson’s performance is his unsettling physicality. With his frantic behaviors, like aggressively spitting out mouthwash, Pattinson always leaves you feeling uneasy.
WHAT YOU SHOULD READ NEXT
‘Coyote vs. Acme’ proves big-screen worthiness through hilarity, clever cameos
Though “Coyote vs. Acme” struggles with pacing issues, the film uses a clever and humorous storyline to create an enjoyable watch adored by fans and critics alike.
Despite his outstanding performance, the real-life Hansen called the portrayal “unhinged” and “detached from reality” — as expected since the movie takes creative liberties. Even if Hansen thought this performance was accurate, he probably wouldn’t praise it because Oppenheim doesn’t frame him as a good dude.
Even though I take Hansen’s comments with a grain of salt, Oppenheim’s framing of Hansen is the film’s main issue.
“Primetime” is undoubtedly a project critiquing Hansen and the all-consuming nature of reality TV. Although the negative evaluation of Hansen is deserved — he actually cheated on his wife in real life — it doesn’t fully stick the landing.
At the end of the day, Hansen helped put people more heinous than him behind bars, which waters down Oppenheim’s assessment. Throughout the movie, Hansen describes what he’s doing as “cleansing the world of an ancient evil.” He even has visions of figures wearing demonic masks — similar to the masks worn in Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” a film that exposes elitist pedophile rings.
But “Primetime” does raise an ethical question. In catching predators, was Hansen more motivated by stardom or by a genuine desire to do good?
Only Hansen himself can answer that question, but “Primetime” serves as a powerful warning against hypocrisy — doing good doesn’t cancel out bad behavior or make you an exception to the rules.
Oppenheim and writer Ajon Singh are successful in their commentary on reality TV’s engrossing nature, largely because of the film’s cinematography.
Some found-footage style sequences emulate the show — including a recording stamp at the top of the frame. The scenes are displayed in a boxy, 4:3 aspect ratio and feature noticeable digital grain, reminiscent of early-2000s home television sets.
I expected the ratio and grain to differ when the movie switched out of its found footage-style segments, but it remained the same throughout most of the film.
It’s a brilliant decision; Hansen is so trapped in the world of television that even his interactions outside of the show are presented in the same analog style.
One sequence shows Hansen sitting down behind a sliding door. Rain pours down the glass, obscuring one side of his face. The show consumes him until his identity slips away — like tears in rain.
“Primetime” teeters on the edge of being a great film, but it ultimately falls short because of its lukewarm messaging, even if that’s deliberate. But Pattinson at his peak powers makes this film a memorable, disturbing and sometimes hilarious ride.
