Primetime

Back in the 90s and 2000s, there were a number of news expose shows to either inform, expose and even entertain us. One of those programs was Dateline on NBC, where they would cover something controversial all the while informing and making us think by shows' end. Well, we have now "Primetime", which is based on the show, "Dateline".

Set in 2006, this psychological crime thriller film follows the intense production by producer Andie Bender (Merritt Wever) and cultural explosion of the reality television series "To Catch a Predator" as host and commentator Chris Hansen (Robert Pattison) pushes the show to the ultimate limit in order to make network history. It's styled with a gritty, horror-adjacent and surreal aesthetic that explores obssession, media sensationalism and moral corruption. 

Others to round out the cast are Skyler Gisondo as Dan Plum, Matthew Maher as Xavier Von Erck, Phoebe Bridgers as Del, Victor Brunette as Frag, Bokeem Woodbine as Cortland Gunn, Alex Winter as Bill Conradt, Tony Revolori as 'Married and Looking', Anna Faris as Mary Hansen,  Chris' wife and Jonathan Lipnicki as Crazyfrog 73.

This was directed with grit, intensity all with a frenectic feel to it by Lance Oppenheim ("Some Kind of Heaven" '20, "Spermworld" '24, "You Can See Everything" '26) plus TV and shorts. His technique in the build-up Oppenheim was able to create between the different characters that were developed was amazing. This filmmaker doesn't have a ton of experience, but he will receive more work. It was reasonably written well by Ajon Singh, based on an article "Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die" by Luke Dittrich. Considering this writer has no other experience, this was written fairly well. However, during its progression, the script had the tendency to jump around and wasn't as cohesive as it could've been. It didn't seem to finish one scene and then off to another. Was it a wash. Absolutely not. The build up to their catching each predator was captivating. The premise was stellar--the follow-through simply needed more polish. Singh's "Spider-Punk" which is in pre-production hopefully will allow him to more develop his style. The acting by Pattison was exemplary. He was coached by Tim Monich as dialect coach, and it was seamless. Also Skylar Gisondo as Dan Plum was riveting. 

If you like these type of television shows, You'll like this, if for no other reason, the film also goes into what it takes to produce one of these programs. As aforementioned, the acting and direction were spot on. The writer simply needs more work thrown his way. 

Out of 4 Stars: 2                                   Rated: R                                          109mins.