“Primetime" is on its way to a $19-20M opening weekend, which is a very healthy start for Lance Oppenheim's unhinged riff on "To Catch a Predator." Audiences were a little more divided. The film landed a "B" CinemaScore and a 56% definite recommend on PostTrak. The crowd skewed very young: 46% were aged 25-34, and 18-34 made up a massive 80% of ticket buyers. For comparison, "Heart of the Beast," which is also looking at $20M, earned an A- CinemaScore and a 73% definite recommend.
And then there's the review that matters most, at least according to the man himself. Chris Hansen finally saw "Primetime" at a Times Square AMC. He gave Robert Pattinson's portrayal a flat "D," called the whole thing a "fever dream" detached from reality, and added that he's "kind of the only guy that counts" when grading this performance.
His grievances: the Jeff Zucker and Stone Phillips scenes that he says never happened, being painted as a ratings-hungry egomaniac, and, most wounding of all, being shown as a bad dad. He also took a swipe at Oppenheim, who, let's remember, dreamed up this whole movie after getting a Cameo from the man. Hansen says Oppenheim never called and just wanted to make a moody horror flick with "interesting photography," which, to be fair, is A24's mission statement.
The irony is that nothing sells a movie quite like its real-life subject trashing it on a podcast with Jesse Watters. Hansen is also rolling out his own counter-programming, a TruBlu documentary called "I'm Chris Hansen," because nothing says "I'm not ratings-obsessed" like dropping a trailer on opening day.
I caught "Primetime" back at Venice, and my take hasn't changed much. The movie is at its best when it's recreating the actual show. Those stings feel weirdly authentic, which makes them funnier and more uncomfortable. Pattinson nails the tone. He starts restrained, almost charming, then slowly unravels as the ratings obsession takes over. Think "Nightcrawler," except Hansen is convinced he's helping society. Skylar Gisondo is the film's best surprise as the aspiring actor turned decoy, and Merritt Wever reminds you what an underrated talent she is.
Visually, it's a trip. David Bolen's cinematography recreates that blown-out, slightly ugly look of early-2000s TV with cold blue light, overexposed interiors and grain, lots of grain, that makes everything feel diseased. The ending is chaos, a little messy, but I'd take that over a tidy prestige drama.
Still, "Primetime" never really goes beyond being a good movie. It's a stylish time capsule of a bizarre moment in 2000s television, but it doesn't dig much deeper than that. Watching it 20 years later, the dominant reaction is less reflection than a giant palm-to-the-face: we actually watched this?
Now it's our readers' turn: did you see "Primetime" this weekend? Is Hansen right, or is this Pattinson doing some of his best work? Post your review in the comments.
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