But, then again, back about 15 or so years ago, the medium of television had evolved into a reality-drive nightmare. Prime time TV was a cesspool of shows that displayed the underbelly of society. People being "voted off" left and right.
Because I didn't partake in this frenzy, a lot happened off my radar screen. One of them was a program on NBC called "To Catch a Predator." Some schlock "journalist" named Chris Hansen used actors as teenage decoys to catch those poor shlubs who were descending on innocent children. This show, according to IMDB, ran three seasons.
Huh?
Well, it really did exist and now there's a Hollywood movie about all this and it goes off the air when one of the sting operations...well...end badly. So this could have easily been a documentary but it's not. Robert Pattinson plays Hansen, who apparently has a few skeletons in his closet. My research shows he is still working and has...gulp...a few Emmy awards. Meanwhile, the real Hansen did not participate in the making of this movie and hasn't had anything nice to say about it. I wonder why.
So, since this was all new to me in 2026, the story...and movie...were fascinating to me. It is told not only from the perspective of Hansen, but also one of the "actors" who would pose as a teenager to catch these creeps. Indeed, I thought that kid's story was the real compelling one.
Overall, the film feels real and, to that point, then-NBC News head honcho Jeff Zucker is a character. As I watched the movie, I wondered out loud how they found an actor who looked so much like Zucker. Imagine my surprise when I read the closing credits and saw that Jeff was playing himself.
Yes, the movie "Primetime" feels dirty and sleazy. But somebody was going to eventually go after the reality TV onslaught from back when. It might as well be this offering from director Lance Oppenheim.
LEN'S RATING: Three stars.
Dinner last night: Sandwich.
