Well, it happened! We did it. Our program kickoff was a resounding success, and we met on Sunday after seeing the movie Thursday and talked about it. We had folks come to the discussion who saw the movie, including one person who saw it on their own, and we even had someone come to the discussion who hadn’t seen the movie but just wanted more information. Wonderful, and exactly what I hoped for in starting the program. 

So this week I’d like to provide “our” review of the film “Primetime,” including both what we thought of it and who we think it’s for. 

I’ll cut right to the chase if you don’t have time to read more: we didn’t love it.

Most of us agreed that this is not a film we would have seen in the theater if we hadn’t been looking for a film to see as part of this new program. As I mentioned last time, October movies generally fall into two categories: horror and Oscar bait (movies the studios want considered for Academy Awards). Primetime falls into that latter category. 

This movie is based on (not a true account of) the events around the Dateline television program “To Catch a Predator,” where host Chris Hansen set up sting operations to lure people into onscreen admissions that they were there to commit criminal actions. The show used “decoys,” that is, actors who played young people in order to lure the predators in. 

We didn’t choose this film because we thought the subject matter was great. We chose it because we thought it might yield good discussions about morality and criminality and how such things are portrayed. 

Bottom Line? The acting is very good, to a point. The script and the direction? Much less so. 

Director Lance Oppenheim apparently wants you to understand that the entire operation was pretty sleazy, exemplifying the worst kind of gotchya journalism. There’s not a sympathetic character in sight. Hansen and his producer (capably played by the very talented Meritt Wever) are just chasing ratings. They don’t seem to care in the film about what happens to anyone in their quest to get viewers. 

And while Robert Pattinson as Hansen turns in a very solid and nuanced performance, you’re clearly not supposed to be rooting for him. So, anti-hero as hero? We don’t want predators out there victimizing children, that doesn’t fit our Christian values. But in films, you have to have a protagonist. Someone we can relate to. The character just shows maximum ego and disdain for anyone who gets in his way. 

So what about Skyler Gisondo, and actor we’ve loved in other films, including the recent 
“Superman” and the excellent  “Licorice Pizza,” among many others? He plays one of Hansens’ decoys, earning the name “Decoy Dan” after actor Dan Plum. Even his naïve and earnest character winds up corrupted, willing to do just about anything to just get a membership in the Screen Actor’s Guild. We start out wishing him well, but by the end, he feels as bereft as any of them. 

Director Lance Oppenheim has made a few documentaries, and has more on the way. He makes very stylized and particular films, and his choice of dark, shadowy pallettes and muted earth tones seem to be going for “gritty” in the world of “Primetime.” But he serves up a script and an experience that ultimate left us cold. We recognized that the actors did well with what they had to work with, but ultimately, the film’s lack of a moral compass leads us back to the idea that the director clearly disdains the show “To Catch a Predator,” and blames the audience of the show as much as those who created it for it’s “success.”

Our final grade for the movie was a C+. 

We’d only recommend this film if you were interested in the acting performances, but otherwise, we don’t see much reason to seek it out. And from a faith perspective, it’s a lot more like a D. The film doesn’t show anyone finding redemption. Everyone’s motives are suspect. The predators are lured in for all the wrong reasons. Surely, we wouldn’t condone their choices or actions, but the way they were used to make a point in this film feels icky and wrong.  Everyone seems to be forgetting that we’re supposed to care for each other. Finally, children, as Jesus points out more than once, are to be cared for and protected. In this film they just feel like pawns in a very dangerous game.

We should note that actor Robert Pattinson is currently on a campaign to defend the film, and it’s hard to blame him. It needs a lot of defending to stay in theaters much longer. 

Thanks to everyone who participated! Our next night out will be Thursday, November 12th and our discussion will be Sunday November 15th after worship. Pencil us in on your calendar, and we’ll let you know which movie we’re seeing as soon as we know.