Video summary
The video review focuses on *Prime Time*, a new film starring Robert Pattinson that dramatizes the behind-the-scenes story of the reality TV show *To Catch a Predator*. The reviewer notes that while Pattinson has had a strong year with previous roles, this movie offers a particularly compelling performance where he transforms into Chris Hansen. Unlike his usual brooding roles, Pattinson captures Hansen's specific cadence and mannerisms without heavy makeup changes, effectively selling the character's persona. The film is praised for its visual style, specifically its choice to use an 8x3 aspect ratio that mimics the older television screens of the early 2000s, which adds to the nostalgic atmosphere despite some graininess intended to emulate the era.
The narrative explores the darker motivations behind Chris Hansen's crusade, suggesting that while stopping pedophiles was a noble goal, his primary drive was to boost the show's ratings and secure a prime-time slot to compete with other popular series like *Lost*. The reviewer highlights Meritt Weaver's standout performance as Andy Bender, the producer who acts as the ruthless glue holding the production together. Her character is depicted as a bulldog working tirelessly to keep the machine running, a role that resonates well for viewers familiar with her work in *The Walking Dead*. Other supporting characters include Skyler Gisondo, who plays one of the adult actors posing as children to lure predators, and Anna Faris, whose brief appearance in a tattered love affair subplot is noted as the film's weakest section.
Despite some abrupt storytelling choices that lack a traditional beginning, middle, and end structure, the reviewer finds the film fascinating and highly entertaining. The movie is rated R for brief nudity and strong dialogue containing sexual commentary, making it suitable only for mature audiences. The reviewer compares the film's sudden conclusion to the ending of *Resident Evil*, noting that while some might find the lack of a concrete resolution jarring, they personally enjoyed the ride. Ultimately, the film is recommended as an easy rewatch that showcases Pattinson's range and serves as a well-crafted piece about the intersection of reality television production and real-world consequences.
Read the full video transcript
What are you doing here?
Why are you here?
Why don't you take a seat? We'll talk
about it. I assume it's because you want
to hear my thoughts on Prime Time, the
new movie that just came out with Robert
Patterson. Not to be confused with the
last three movies that came out with
Robert Patterson this year already.
These pages are empty. It has been a
year for Robert Patterson so far. Holy
crap. He was in the Odyssey, which I
freaking loved. He was also in a movie
with Jayla that I hated beyond all
measure, where she's kind of crawling
around on the ground in the grass with
her ass popped up. That part was fine.
Uh, but the movie in general sucked. He
was in a film called The Drama, which I
also really enjoyed. So, he's he's
batting pretty well, and I was pretty
optimistic going into Prime Time because
I didn't know a lot about To Catch a
Predator, which is the show that this
film is based around. Well, I'm happy to
report that after last night watching
the film, I know a good amount of the
behind the scenes, at least from the
vantage point of the person who wrote
this thing and directed it. And I have
to tell you, it's a damn good time,
baby. Paddinsson's year keeps looking
better. I'm going to tell you about
Prime Time in a spoiler-free review
right now. Why don't you Why don't you
stay seated?
Prime Time is an 824 film, so that means
it's in 4x3 aspect ratio because what
the hell are they doing over there at
that studio? You know, this is a thing
that a lot of studios have been doing
lately. Just because it's a period piece
and it comes out in the '9s or in the
case of prime time early 2000s doesn't
mean you have to put it in 4x3 square
aspect ratio stripping away the video
from both sides of a screen or
everybody's TV at home. I understand
based on, you know, you putting on the
date and them wearing clothing from the
decade and the cars they're driving and
the fact that the show was present in
the early 2000s, you don't need to make
it so one to one. So, as of today, I
propose that A24 change its name to A43,
as in a 4x3 aspect ratio, because 80% of
their filmography is done this way.
Small hangup aside, this is also a
really prettyl looking film. Even though
it is degraded and, you know, kind of
grainy here and there and pretty much
trying to be emulating the the time
period. God, it's it's so weird to say
that this is like a historical piece now
because I was very much alive and uh in
my teenage years during this movie. Was
I a teenager? I was in my 20s. [ __ ] god,
I'm old now. The film is gonna follow
Chris Hansen as he goes up against the
biggest vile pieces of [ __ ] on planet
Earth. Just absolute scum. Pedophiles.
Yeah. Yeah. There's pedos in the house
and he's going to make sure they go to
the big house after this. Wow. That I'm
I'm impressed. I just pulled that out of
my ass. Anyway, that was what the TV
show was based around. Every episode,
uh, Pedo would come to this house.
They'd be lured there by the
professional guy on the other end of the
computer screen who would pose as like a
12 or 13year-old kid, boy or girl, and
eventually they would lure this person
into the home, offer some milk and
cookies, and then next thing you know,
Chris Hansen pops out from around the
corner, tips the hat, and asks them why
they're there. Just has like a little
conversation. And then right outside
that front door, the cops are ready and
able to tackle the perpetrator and throw
his ass behind bars or give him a court
date at the least. But according to
prime time, Hansen wasn't necessarily
doing this entirely for the the most
sacred of reasons. It's not like he was
hellbent on stopping these scumbags from
getting to little kids. Obviously,
that's a perk of the job. It makes him
look great. But there's also this other
more, I guess, devious mindset with him,
which is to get this show to the height
of its popularity, get it on prime time,
aka 8:00 p.m. Central, and that way they
can go up against the big dogs. In the
case of when this came out, Lost, I
myself was wasting my time watching Lost
and not To Catch a Predator. Both shows
kind of went nowhere at the end of the
day, but at least in the case of To
Catch a Predator, you get a pretty
badass movie out of the deal. And what
we have here is not only a really
wellshot, wellframed up in that gorgeous
4x3 A43 aspect ratio, but we got Robert
Patterson putting in a hell of a damn
good performance, baby. I've always
been, I shouldn't say team Jacob, uh,
because Twilight's stupid and dumb, but
I was never team Edward either. I like
Robert Patterson. I've never loved him
even as Batman. He never did anything
that really wowed me. He just looked
kind of, you know, ominous and he had
the black makeup, the mascara and
whatnot. And I guess he was brooding,
but I never saw him play a character,
per se. He was always just fine. He's
he's the male Zenaia to me. They're
fine. But Zenaia turned it around for me
in recent years with Challengers and the
drama also starring Robert Patterson.
She was terrific in those. and Patterson
really started to showcase some range in
that film. But right here, right now,
right in the present time, he as Chris
Hansen really transformed into this
persona. Not so much from a looks
standpoint. He still looks just like
Robert Patterson. They didn't even try
in the makeup department. They didn't do
anything to the nose or the cheekbones.
The hair is really just Robert
Patterson's hair. He doesn't look like
the guy, but he sounds like him. He's
got the mannerisms down. He's got the
cadence correct. I was buying what he
was selling and he's selling possibly an
Oscar. As good as Paddinson is, Meritt
Weaver as Andy Bender, just just
perfection. I loved her in this film.
Easily a supporting actress nod here.
She is a bulldog in this film. Doesn't
take [ __ ] from anyone. She really is the
glue, the mind behind this beast that's
running off a couple seasons trying to
get up in those ratings. And that means
she's cutthroat as all hell. She's
working around the clock. She's making
sure this is a welloiled machine. And my
god, does she chew her gum like a cow.
If there's one thing that triggers me,
it's people that
chew gum like a douchebag. That gum
chewing is obnoxious as hell, but she
sold it. Okay, I wasn't triggered. I was
just slightly intrigued and annoyed by
this performance in a good way. I had to
look back on Meritt Weaver's catalog and
I stopped when I I took pause when I got
to The Walking Dead. And then I
remembered her from that show and how
much I wanted her to die as soon as I
was introduced to the character. So, it
was nice seeing her here because I
already had this builtup rage towards
her and you're kind of supposed to feel
a little bit that way. Although, I was
incredibly impressed by the work ethic
and just the savviness from a business
standpoint. Very impressive stuff. There
are a couple other key players involved.
Skyler Gassand, he plays one of the bait
for these pedos to come in. I'll
probably get freaking demonetized on
YouTube by the amount of times I'm
saying ped
subscribe. He plays Dan Plum. This is
one of uh a couple different people that
are used as bait to play the 13-year-old
kids. Obviously grown ass adults that
are wearing, you know, long t-shirts,
baggy, putting on a backwards hat,
blowing bubble gum, you know, talking
like kids. Hey, want to go get a Capri,
son? Cool beans. I got some Hansen
playing in the other room. You like
Hansen?
Skip.
That That was the profession I really
should have been in. 13-year-old
jailbait. Subscribe. Dan Plum is a guy
that wants to act and he can sing.
Really wants to showcase that, too. But
this is not an actor's gig. This is very
much a different type of performance.
And Chris Hansen's going to kind of
coach him along with that and say,
"Listen, dude. What we're doing is
beyond acting, okay? We're like [ __ ]
angels. We're saints up in here." At
least that's what Chris Hansen wants
these people to believe because, you
know, he himself, I think, kind of
drinks that Kool-Aid, but on top of
that, there is that level of narcissism.
They do go into his personal life a
little bit with his wife, played by Anna
Ferris, who's just randomly in this. I
don't know what the hell she's doing
here. Barely, but blink and you miss.
She has that much screen time. They're
going to go into that kind of uh
tattered love affair thing. It's more of
a back burner. Um, I didn't that that
was easily the weakest section and you
don't really get a lot of satisfying
conclusion to any of this stuff. Really,
at the end of the day, Prime Time is
kind of a break neck speed story that's
just driving home the fact that this
show was so ahead of the game and it was
so popular and it was not a scripted
thing like a comedy. Friends is gone.
Seinfeld's gone. So folks at home want
that next fix and they're finding it and
they're connecting to this totally
different type of medium. It's reality
TV, baby. Like I said, there are a
couple other supporting characters. You
have the the computer guy who is the
most computerlooking guy of all
computer-looking guys. The dude's eyes
are going different directions. He just
has a very unnatural physique to him,
which is perfect. It's perfect. No, no
disrespect to the actor. Obviously, he's
carved a niche in this department. From
a housekeeping standpoint, I should
point out this is rated R. It is under 2
hours. It's an hour and 50, I think. So,
you know, you you shave some off for the
credits. You're looking at an hour 45.
It goes by very quickly. It's rated R
for some brief nudity.
Unfortunately, it's on the male side.
And there's some strong dialogue.
There's a lot of sexual commentary going
on about sucking and jerking and
twerking and, you know, flurking. I
don't know what that is, but I I hear
it's quite hot. And the things you
probably want your kids to have ear
muffs on when playing on the TV in the
background, unless you go to see this in
theaters, which I would suggest doing,
it is a very fascinating watch. Now, I'm
not a historian by any means. I also
don't know jack [ __ ] about Chris Hansen
outside of what this movie's presented.
So, if you're looking for a review
that's going to tell you whether or not
this is true to the man in real life,
look somewhere else. I take the movie at
face value. I that doesn't mean I
believe what the movie's presenting
about the guy. I I I prefer to just kind
of witness films as their own sort of
story. And whether or not it's true or
not is not really something I'm
concerned with. I just want to be
entertained. Uh and then I can look
further into it on my own if I really
want to as to who this guy really was. I
already talked about the very beautiful,
well-lit 4x3 aspect ratio from A43.
Sound design, excellent here. Music
popping. We got a great score throughout
this thing. There's some good nostalgic
references throughout this thing. Uh,
one in particular I'm not going to give
away, but I smirked very heavily when we
got to the scene. I looked at my buddy.
I'm like, I remember I remember this
whole fiasco. The last thing I will say
is if you're looking for a beginning,
middle, end sort of a structure to a
film, not really what you get here since
this isn't technically just about Chris
Hansen, but it's about the production of
the show and the different players
involved with Hansen obviously being a
key component. It's not his life that
we're specifically honed in on. So,
there's no like ending for this guy.
There's no ending to that storyline.
He's just present along with the show's
run. Where the show's going is where
he's going when all things are said and
done. To some people, that might be a
little bit of a turnoff. If you're
looking for some more hard-hitting,
concrete resolution, you might be left
thinking, "Oh, well, where are we going
next?" I would actually kind of
reference the recent Resident Evil in
that department. Another movie I
freaking dug. But the ending is very
abrupt for a lot of people. You kind of
think to yourself, well, [ __ ] now the
movie's really getting to go. Now we're
now we're all in on Resident Evil, and
that's where they left us. Similar in in
an extent, similar. And just like
Resident Evil, I really liked Prime
Time. It's an easy rewatch for me. It's
an easy recommendation for me. I think
Patterson's going to have a very hard
time not being elected for best actor
when it comes to Oscar time. Uh, it's
just a it's just a well-crafted film all
around. All right, there you have it. My
thoughts on the movie. We we've been
eating well lately. I mean, I'm watching
a lot of shitty Netflix exclusive
streamers to kind of offset the good
stuff I've been going to. But, man, I'm
the last couple months have have been
pretty good. All right, let me know your
thoughts, though. Are you planning on
seeing this? Are you a little bit more
excited to go out and watch it?
Intrigued perhaps? Put it in the
comments below. Again, think of subbing
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