Barley Lewis-McCabe

It’s 2006, Tamagotchis dangle comfortably from rearview mirrors. Natasha Beddingford’s latest single, “Unwritten” is taking the world by storm, the “great war on terror” is at its height and millions of Americans tune in every Wednesday at 9 p.m. to try to unravel the mysteries of the island in Lost. There’s something new on TV; Dateline – one of the most reputable TV news shows of the era is bringing you a gritty look into the burgeoning menace of online pedophiles, hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Chris Hansen. This is To Catch a Predator (TCAP). 

Primetime – directed by Lance Oppenheim is phenomenal and at times hard to watch for all the right reasons. It’s a claustrophobic and personal look into the burden of being America’s premier pedophile hunter, while also doubling as an introduction to the bastardization of news media in an oversaturated entertainment field. 

In the film’s first act, NBC executive Jeff Zucker – himself – lays it out straight for Hansen – Robert Pattinson – Americans are tired of fiction, they want real action that plays on their deepest fears. Audiences don’t want a fantastical version of their world; they want the harsh reality they hope they’ll never experience. There’s only one journalist who can find a story and abandon any ethical principle to hook people in, Chris Hansen.

Everyone in Hansen’s sphere confronts the dark side of their virtuous fight and grapples with the underbelly of what they’re doing — soon everyone is pushed as far as they can go, as the film explodes into a conclusion that leaves you hanging. While it is a fictionalized story of the classic American television program, Primetime creates its own world — very similar to ours — with all of the same events and same people, they just act a bit differently than they really did. Pattinson delivers a volcanic performance as a righteous and furious Hansen fighting a seemingly supernatural, Lynchian evil that corrupts men and must be beaten out, publicly. He’s balanced out by Andie Bender – Merritt Weaver – his mild-mannered producer who’s more focused on keeping their show afloat than catching a white-whale of a predator. While this is applicable to any cast member, Weaver’s performance especially was grounded, passionate and didn’t just jump off the screen, but sat in the seat next to me and ate my popcorn.

Dan Plumb – Skyler Gisondo – is a struggling musical theater actor who gets his big break as pedophile bait on TCAP, alongside experienced decoy Del Harvey – Phoebe Bridgers – in her debut film role. Primetime doesn’t ignore the emotional, physical and theatrical work that went into a show like TCAP. 

The minimal score and heavy emphasis on natural sound kept me on the edge of my seat for nearly two hours straight. The camerawork was unique and engaging; the CRT tint and 4:3 aspect ratio led to a film that felt both dated and timeless. Oppenheim’s love for analog horror was clear by the third act and executed perfectly. 

Primetime is a movie that could not have come at a better time. In my humble journalistic opinion, this is the movie of the year and Hansen could really benefit from a media ethics class.

Barley is the good-timing Editor In Chief of The Lumberjack, as well as a jack of all trades news writer. Contact him for any reason at bl258@humboldt.edu