‘Primetime’ Is a Robert Pattinson Transformation and the Nightmare Media Movie of Our Time, With Lance Oppenheim!

The Big Picture

The episode features a deep dive into Lance Oppenheim's new film 'Primetime,' which uses Robert Pattinson to satirize the media culture of t

Key takeaways

• Lance Oppenheim's 'Primetime' explores the 'conspiratorial narcissism' of the era of 'To Catch a Predator'.
• Robert Pattinson delivers a heightened, transformative performance as a version of Chris Hansen.

Main topics

• Primetime film analysis
• Paramount-Warner Bros. merger

Notable quotes

The movie is a dark, twitchy portrait of a media culture gone horribly wrong and also kind of funny.

Conclusion

A profound look at how media-driven spectacles shape our cultural psyc

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:15) I'm Sean Fennessy. I'm Speaker 1 (0:16) Amanda Dobbins. And this Speaker 4 (0:17) is the Big Picture 8 Conversation Show about primetime. Today on the show, we are digging into the new Robert Pattinson starring paranoid satire horror thriller that portrays Chris Hansen, host of To Catch a Predator, as a lodestar for our modern crisis of conspiratorial narcissism. The movie is a dark, twitchy portrait of a media culture gone horribly wrong and also kind of funny. Later in this episode, I'll be joined by Lance Oppenheim, the filmmaker, making his scripted feature debut with Primetime. Lance is best known for his documentaries. He last appeared on the show in 2024. He's having an amazing year between Primetime and his forthcoming Elizabeth Holmes doc with Nathan Fielder, You Can See Everything. This conversation is entirely about Primetime and his transition to fiction storytelling, and it's a great one. Lance might be the smartest young filmmaker on the planet right now. Stick around for it. But first... Some movie news right after this. Speaker 4 (1:32) Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. Speaker 1 (1:37) This is surprise movie news. This is breaking movie news. It's not. We're Sean Fennessey. Speaker 4 (1:41) It's more movie feelings. Okay. I want to share with you some feelings I'm having. Speaker 1 (1:46) Oh, God. Speaker 4 (1:47) This Speaker 1 (1:47) is why you didn't tell me ahead of time. Speaker 4 (1:50) That's not true. That's not true. I've been Speaker 1 (1:52) in a screening that drove here, so I don't know any news that happened. But instead, did you have a breakdown? No. Did you have an epiphany? Speaker 4 (2:01) No. Okay. I think I'm... I'm incapable of either of those things at this stage of my life. I'm trying to stay even right now here in 2026. I've done a pretty good job, I think. Speaker 1 (2:09) Yeah. Speaker 4 (2:10) I have been feeling a bit low about the Paramount merger. Sure. And my lowness was lowered when word that Elon Musk was maybe going to be a part of the investment in Paramount because this is a $110 billion acquisition and David Ellison and co. need money and there's going to be a lot of debt. And I was... You know, I'm not happy about the merger. I'm not happy that Warner Brothers is no longer a standalone movie studio and television studio. And I've got a lot of concerns about it. But, you know, I've been trying to block it out and trying to. I knew that this was going to happen and forge ahead. Speaker 1 (2:46) There's nothing that we can do. And all of the business planers said to us, OK, well, if Paramount doesn't buy Warner Brothers, then another company has to because it was built to be sold and what AT &T did and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we as MBAs, along with our other credentials here, said, OK, sure. Well, Speaker 4 (3:06) I thought back on a few times we were at a. a Christmas party in December and we were having a conversation with Matt Bellany, our colleague here on the Ringer Podcast Network. And he was like, it's going to be paramount. You know, like just, it's going to be paramount. Just accept it. And even he over the last, whatever, nine months has wavered and toggled. And we had the Netflix moment and a lot of things went back and forth and back and forth. But deep down, I think everybody, especially the cynics were like, it's going to be paramount. And so, you know, we are where we are with that. I'm trying to push those feelings aside. Okay. Because this is a movie podcast, right? Sure. And we find ourselves on one of the great kinds of movie weekends where a bunch of different movies are coming out. And it seems like some of them might actually do well. Right. And you're Speaker 1 (3:52) most excited about Paramount's Heart of the Beast. Speaker 4 (3:55) Well, they have a film coming out. Have you Speaker 1 (3:58) seen Paramount's Heart of the Beast? I haven't. Nor have I. I Speaker 4 (4:00) haven't. In fact, it's the only movie that I'll list here. I guess one of two movies that I'll list here that I have not yet seen. But having seen a bunch of these movies already, Speaker 1 (4:08) almost Speaker 4 (4:09) all of which we will talk about on Monday's episode. Speaker 1 (4:11) Yes. Speaker 4 (4:13) I'm like, this is working. Like, it is, like, we're rebuilding it. You know, it's going to take time, but it's going pretty well. And this has obviously been a very exciting year for those of us who love movies and going to the movies. And so, in addition to Primetime, which we'll talk about at length here, Speaker 3 (4:27) we Speaker 4 (4:28) also have, and I'm not ashamed to admit it, I'm kind of excited, tomorrow morning to go see Avengers Endgame Encore, a movie I've always liked. In fact, I've loved. Yeah. And they've added eight minutes to the film. And I'm going to watch those eight minutes as well as the original film. Like Speaker 1 (4:42) inside the film? I believe so. Speaker 4 (4:45) Or Speaker 1 (4:45) appended to the end of it? Speaker 4 (4:46) Well, I don't know. Speaker 1 (4:47) Okay. I Speaker 4 (4:48) haven't seen it yet. But that's happening. And I'll be able to experience for the very first time Infinity Vision. Speaker 1 (4:53) Wow. Which is Speaker 4 (4:54) a new format Speaker 1 (4:55) that Speaker 4 (4:55) the Marvel and Disney Corporation are introducing to us, which I think is just the Dolby Room. Sure. Which Speaker 1 (5:00) you actually, you prefer, you know, the IMAX to the Dolby Room. I Speaker 4 (5:05) do. But I like the Dolby Room. You do. I do. Speaker 1 (5:07) No regular formats for you. No, that's not true. So they did find you with Infinity Vision. I watched a Speaker 4 (5:13) film this morning in regular format, and I'm not allowed to reveal what it is, but I did. What did you watch this morning? Can you reveal it? Le Boulinagra. Oh, wow. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah, Speaker 1 (5:21) we can talk about that offline. I don't know if I'm embargoed. Speaker 4 (5:24) Okay. I don't think so. It's already premiered at festivals. Well, sure, yeah. You saw it Speaker 1 (5:28) like four months ago, but I don't know. Okay. Speaker 4 (5:30) Do you want Speaker 1 (5:31) to spoil it, or do you want to do Oscar? you know, save it for the next Oscars thing. Speaker 4 (5:36) I don't know. I'm intrigued either way. You Speaker 1 (5:40) thought you were surprising me and now the tables have turned. Well, let's Speaker 4 (5:43) come back to LeBullet Neger for a second because I have to turn that over in my mind while speaking to you. A vamp. Mind thought? Sure. Okay, so Avengers Endgame, would you like Speaker 1 (5:52) me to read the rest of the movies that are coming out this weekend in my movie voice? Yeah, sure. Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother. Yeah. Starring Mahershala Ali, a recent guest on One More Question. That's right. With someone named Zach Barron. That's right. I haven't seen this yet. Tomorrow I'm doing a double header of Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother and then Heart of the Beast. Speaker 4 (6:09) Okay. Back to back. Very masculine afternoon for you. Well, Speaker 1 (6:11) that's the one note I have here. Your Speaker 4 (6:14) Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother, which I loved. Uh Speaker 1 (6:16) -huh. Speaker 4 (6:17) Is one for the dads. Speaker 1 (6:19) Well, that's, I mean, I learned that. Just Speaker 4 (6:21) giving Speaker 1 (6:21) you Speaker 4 (6:21) a Speaker 1 (6:21) heads Speaker 4 (6:21) up. Speaker 1 (6:21) I did listen to Zach's entire interview with Mahershala Ali, which was also one for the dads. But you know what? For the parents. It expands. Yeah, yeah. It's Speaker 4 (6:29) a Speaker 1 (6:29) beautiful thing. Speaker 4 (6:30) So that movie is coming out. Okay, Speaker 1 (6:32) Forgotten Island, which I'm going to take knocks to this weekend. Oh, you Speaker 4 (6:34) got a lot of movies coming up. This is the new DreamWorks animated film. Speaker 1 (6:38) I do my job, you know? Sure, Speaker 4 (6:40) okay. Speaker 1 (6:41) Let's see. Resident Evil Week 2. Speaker 4 (6:43) The Speaker 1 (6:44) Wait, week two. I have also seen The Wait. You've seen The Wait. I have seen The Wait. Oh, Speaker 4 (6:48) great. There we go. This is exciting. Speaker 1 (6:49) And the history of concrete expands. I have also seen the history of concrete. Speaker 4 (6:52) This is John Wilson's feature documentary debut. Speaker 1 (6:55) So it is a dude's rock week at the movie theaters. But that's okay because sometimes dudes are allowed to rock. Speaker 4 (7:03) Well, Forgotten Island is a film about girls. Speaker 1 (7:05) That's wonderful. About young Speaker 4 (7:07) girls thinking about what's coming next for them as they become... Not a girl, but not yet women. Beautiful. As Brittany once eloquently compared. She did. And I guess I'm feeling pretty, I'm like, this is cool. Yeah. We've got an auteurist, high-level, you know, indie arthouse movie with a big movie star. We've got an old-school movie star doing kind of a late period, you know, like a movie that Robert Mitchum might have made or Robert Redford might have made in later stages of their career. With Speaker 1 (7:37) a Speaker 4 (7:37) dog. Yeah, with a dog. We've got an animated movie. We've got... a, this is, as Zach pointed out in his conversation with Mahershala, only the second time he's ever been the proper lead of a movie, which is kind of fascinating because I, if you had asked me how many movies has he let out, I Speaker 1 (7:53) would Speaker 4 (7:53) have said, I don't know, five or six. And then I would have tried to name them and then wouldn't have been able to come up with them. Yeah, Speaker 1 (7:57) there's a gap there. Speaker 4 (7:58) There's a gap there. Yeah, so there's just a lot of cool stuff happening. So I'm trying to push it down. Okay, Speaker 1 (8:02) so you're trying to, you're trying to embrace the positive. Speaker 4 (8:06) Yeah, well, Speaker 1 (8:06) I'm trying to love movies. And block out. Elon Musk investing in Paramount. You haven't seen Musk, the documentary yet. I have. Speaker 4 (8:13) You have, yeah. Yeah. And did that make you feel better about him? Speaker 1 (8:17) It's like, it's already outdated now. Yeah. But it does place, I would say the second half of the documentary emphasizes the way in which he has become an unlikely and terrifying media mogul. So this doesn't. Speaker 4 (8:32) Tracks onto that. Yeah, Speaker 1 (8:34) but it doesn't make me feel a lot better. That was the half that I needed to sneak the Negroni into the movie for. No, I'm sorry. It was a Campari spritz. Speaker 4 (8:42) Okay. You snuck a Campari spritz into your screening of the four-hour Musk documentary. Speaker 1 (8:46) Actually, the intermission, like post-intermission. Oh, Speaker 3 (8:48) there's an Speaker 1 (8:48) intermission. Yes. Also, in Speaker 4 (8:50) a water bottle. Remember. Yes, thank Speaker 1 (8:51) you. Yeah. Okay. Oh, like Speaker 4 (8:53) Poland Spring style? Yes. Where you like made a screwdriver? Speaker 1 (8:55) Well, no, they gave it to me. And then they were like, you can't take it into the movies. So then I drank my water. So then you had pink water? No, I drank all of the water. No, but like Speaker 4 (9:06) in the water bottle, it looked like it was pink water. Speaker 1 (9:09) Yeah. Yes, I had pink water. Sure. And how did you explain that? I added electrolytes, obviously. Okay. And then... Speaker 4 (9:15) By Speaker 1 (9:16) the way, the Italians are not asking. The Italians don't care. Everyone who works at the Venice Film Festival is very, very chill this year. They were nice about it, except for the people with machine guns. And then, I mean, you know, Europeans, just weird hats and machine guns. They love Speaker 4 (9:29) machine guns. Speaker 1 (9:30) And then, and I took the potato chips in too. Speaker 4 (9:33) Okay. Speaker 1 (9:34) Because I knew I would need it for the last two hours of what's going on with Elon Musk. Musk is Speaker 4 (9:39) coming out. October 9th. Yeah. That's the same day as The Social Reckoning. Yeah. And I don't know if we're going to be able to stitch those two together, but they do feel very related. They Speaker 1 (9:48) are stitched together. And they are both, well, we haven't even seen The Social Reckoning. We have not. Just trailers. But they are all somewhat related to the movie that we're about to discuss. Speaker 4 (9:57) You're absolutely right about that. And that's an elegant segue. Thank you. To primetime. Let's talk about it. Yeah. So, as I said, directed by Lance Oppenheim. Ajone Singh is the writer. It's based on a 2007 Esquire piece by Luke Dittrich called Tonight on Deadline, This Man Will Die. The movie stars Pattinson, naturally, as Hanson, Merritt Weaver, Skylar Gazzando, Matthew Mayer, Phoebe Bridgers, and many other amusing, would you call them stunt castings? Speaker 1 (10:25) Yes, absolutely. A Speaker 4 (10:27) lot of signpost signals, memory joggers dotted throughout the movie. The story is as follows. It's told through the experience of Hansen, producers, and the young actors who participated in the series To Catch a Predator. Primetime tracks the turbulent behind-the-scenes production of the mid-2000s reality television sensation. Before we get into your thoughts on the film, did you watch To Catch a Predator? I forget. I Speaker 1 (10:50) didn't. Because this was right when I graduated from college. And so I'm fluent in all of the pop culture that this movie... lovingly and also accusingly recreates in equal measure. Shout out Fergie. And the only woman I Speaker 4 (11:08) think Speaker 1 (11:08) my husband would leave me for. And but I wasn't like watching TV at that point, you know, because I don't know if I had my cable set up yet. Not in like a I'm too cool for cable sort of way, but in the I'm 22 and broken in New York sort of way. Sure. So, no, I know it as I think. most people do, which is as a pop culture phenomenon, and really like as one of the first memes that gets handed down over the internet over the ages. Speaker 4 (11:39) That's right. The show, I guess for anyone who is not familiar with the show or has not figured out what it is from watching the trailers of this movie, was a sort of gotcha journalism program in which potential child predators, you know, sexual deviants were lured. into particular circumstances and came to homes that were kind of set arranged and actors who were playing teenagers, grown adult actors who were playing teenagers, invited them into the home and acted as the person that they had been communicating with online. And then as that scenario would play out, the actor would disappear and the host, Chris Hansen, who had a longtime NBC News journalist, would appear and confront these... predators and interrogate them on camera. And frequently most segments would end with those predators racing out of the home and being arrested. Speaker 1 (12:36) Yeah. Speaker 4 (12:37) It's as deranged as it sounds. And I've seen it before. It's a fascinating text. Yeah. And I do think that the movie very smartly locates it as indicative of a lot of where. our culture was headed. Right. But it wasn't the, it wasn't the only thing, you know, it wasn't the only indicator of like a kind of broken society. But the fact that we were sort of like cheering on these scenarios was quite strange. You Speaker 1 (13:01) know, this is way after. Cops, the TV show, and America's Most Wanted, the TV show. And we did grow up with law enforcement as entertainment. And even the type of footage that is recreated in primetime of, like, not, it wasn't body cams, but surveillance footage and chase footage. And, you know, the OJ chase being another. Speaker 4 (13:27) It Speaker 1 (13:27) was embedded in pop culture. And I guess this is an era where things were just kind of like heightened. Cops was never, was it on primetime? I don't imagine it as primetime. I imagined it as sort of like a, like a serial, not a. I Speaker 4 (13:47) can't quite remember, but I mean, it was on Fox when I was a kid. Yeah. And it may have aired at 10 p.m. Speaker 1 (13:53) Right. And Fox Speaker 4 (13:54) didn't really have 10 p.m. primetime programming for a stretch. So like they would program from 8 to 10. Speaker 3 (14:00) And then Speaker 4 (14:01) whatever was happening at 10, maybe they had the news and then cops after that, which was a little different than, say, NBC, which would program until 11. I think that's when it aired. But it was, I mean, it was among the most popular shows of that period. There's an amazing podcast series that came out some years ago about the history of cops. And there's, in addition to those kinds of law enforcement reality TV shows that we were weaned on as kids, this was also the time of punked. and Jackass and Borat and Ali G and this kind of intersection between kind of antic mayhem and candid camera style gotcha programming colliding with, you know, the real life circumstances that are portrayed in this movie. Speaker 1 (14:43) I'll throw one more thing in. This was also the era and the network of The Apprentice. Speaker 4 (14:47) That's right. Speaker 1 (14:48) Which was again about taking... kind of local news and really giving it a major platform. And now we are living in the consequence of that platform. Speaker 4 (15:00) Yeah. And I think this movie is interested in the ramifications of all of that and is using this movie, as I said, as kind of the portal to some of that. So what'd you think of the movie? Speaker 1 (15:10) I really, really dug it. I saw it in Venice at the premiere and really liked it. And, you know, that was a very buzzy premiere. So there were all the American press, everyone was fighting for a ticket. But It was kind of funny to watch it with an Italian crowd who didn't really have the same reference. And for example, I don't think they know who Jeff Zucker is. And why would you if you're Italian? I hope you're living a blessed and free life, or at least that's not part of your issues. And then... This Speaker 4 (15:39) is a very American text. Speaker 1 (15:41) It's Speaker 4 (15:41) incredibly Speaker 1 (15:41) American. So it's funny that it was in Venice. And then I got the chance to rewatch it this week. And there was... There was stuff that I hadn't noticed that like things that also played differently after a couple of weeks of being back at home, like and back to school saturated in our crazy, weird media ecosystem. So I think it's really smart. I think it is very audacious in both, you know, some of the actual formal techniques, but also, frankly, just putting Robert Pattinson's. crazy weird performance at the middle of this and I just I'm so taken with the Pattinson of it all it is so out there yeah Speaker 4 (16:22) that's the first yeah bullet point I made here it Speaker 1 (16:25) is wild yeah Speaker 4 (16:27) well it's a really interesting document to me because the movie is being sold and marketed yeah very specifically as Robert Pattinson is Chris Hansen and about two-thirds of the movie is that It is like a descent into madness media movie, of which there are a great many. When I was talking to Lance, he cited Ace in the Hole as one of his favorite movies. There's a lot of movies that we can talk about at the end of this discussion that this is working in a tradition of. And I would say the movie is not particularly revelatory, but its accuracy and interest in the details of this time, of this kind of culture, and then also creating a setup to let a great star and actor have fun like this. Yeah. let it rip, so to speak, is incredibly entertaining and engaging and fascinating and fun and quite dark and quite sad. And, you know, I saw the movie again last night. Yeah. Because I moderated a Q &A with Lance. And so Speaker 1 (17:20) you saw it with an American crowd. I Speaker 4 (17:21) saw it with a big, big crowd at the Director's Village Theater. And there were a lot of laughs in the room. It's funny. And there was an interesting thing about, is it okay to laugh at this? And I think it was almost a meta commentary on our feelings about the show How to Catch a Predator. Mm Speaker 2 (17:36) -hmm. Speaker 4 (17:36) Which is like, were you allowed to laugh at that show? And was that show funny on purpose? Or was it, did it become this kind of... arch text that we felt like some removed from, even though there's something deeply sad about whatever's happening on that show at any given time. And so I could feel, you know, there's certain moments where Pattinson is being just like hysterical and really like going for it, going over the top. There are other moments where Skylar Gazzando, for example, has like very funny line readings. There's incident that feels very funny to us, even though it's perverse. Speaker 1 (18:06) Yes. But there are, you know. They're playing it both ways, even within the film, and some characters react with shock. And then there's a cut to control room where everyone is like, huh! It's like Speaker 4 (18:19) a Speaker 1 (18:19) great reaction shot moment. All of the control shot moments in this movie both stand in for the audience and then judge the audience at the same time in a very clever way. And once again are also just memes waiting to happen. Speaker 4 (18:31) So few movies like this are about actual real living people. But Chris Hansen, of course, is still alive and is interacting with this movie in some ways, although apparently he still hasn't seen it. Pattinson is doing something fascinating because the vocal timbre, the mannerisms, the like crusader demon quality that Hansen had. The Speaker 1 (18:52) physicality. Yes, Speaker 4 (18:53) it's so perfectly matched. It is, you know, snapshot accurate. But it's also extremely heightened. There's been a lot of talk about Dracula being a big influence on this performance. And, you know, from the opening moments when we see him opening a curtain, he has this kind of devilish pose to him that is really fascinating. And it goes for both behind the scenes and in front of the camera that he never totally seems like a person who knows who he is. He only kind of understands himself as this public persona. Speaker 1 (19:25) Right. I thought you were just going to end that sentence as he never totally seems like a person. And you do watch the character of Chris Hansen going in and out of the performance of, you know, the crusader that he is in front of the camera versus the sort of dad, though he doesn't really try in his personal life at all. And another interesting thing about this movie is how everyone in it. is a complete failure outside of the confines of the control room or this, this movie set, which is possibly true of many TV crews, but like definitely true of many people that we know in all types of industries. Speaker 3 (20:06) And Speaker 1 (20:06) you, you see, there's, there's a remove, there's like a distance to the performance itself from like basically humanity, which, which, which I think is genius and is, Obviously, just incredibly engaging to watch because you don't know what he's going to do. And he does really random stuff and communicates pretty quickly that he is going for it with a capital G. But it is also interesting kind of in what ultimately the movie wants to say about Chris Hansen and or these programs and or. Speaker 1 (20:44) you know, how we understand other people through a screen and can you and or is it just constantly like is everyone a predator in its own way, which certainly the Chris Hansen character is. Speaker 4 (20:56) You know. I rewatched it with my wife this week, and we had a really long and complicated conversation about what the responsibility of the producers of this show actually was and the notions of entrapment and what they're drawing out of people. The movie, I thought, was actually, the second time I watched it, I thought was even more incisive about that question in ways that maybe I wasn't thinking about as I was trying to get my bearings because the movie is extremely stylish and has a fascinating visual framework. where it's clearly, you know, Lance said it's shot on, I think, 25 different formats, and it's clearly gone through this pretty rigorous post-process to give it a kind of like sort of a psychotronic, hyper-colorful, but also grainy look that is, I guess, shot on digital, but then in the... And the post-process makes it look more like the TV show at times. It makes it look more like your computer screen and things that you watched in the 2000s. It makes Speaker 1 (21:49) it look more like a sleazy nightclub, like just don't go there environment at moments. Like something you're not supposed to Speaker 4 (21:56) be Speaker 1 (21:56) seeing. Yeah, exactly. Speaker 4 (21:57) Yeah. So the movie itself has this very powerful effect. But then when you revisit the work, like it is textually about. Speaker 4 (22:06) the ugliness, really, I think, of this production. And the fact that I think that's such an astute point you made, which is that these people are so good at their jobs. Speaker 1 (22:15) And Speaker 4 (22:15) what does that mean to be so good at your job? And then to only, like, to turn your whole life over to that. Speaker 1 (22:20) Yeah. Speaker 4 (22:20) And not really have the distance to examine what it is that you're contributing to the world and actually to delude yourself into thinking, I'm really making a difference. Because that's something that Hanson is kind of constantly... Promoting to himself and to everyone who works for him and to this figure of Dan Plum played by Gazando who comes into this world. Speaker 2 (22:39) And Speaker 4 (22:39) you can sense because of the acuity of his performance that this is not right, but he's an out-of-work actor and he really wants the gig and Speaker 3 (22:50) he Speaker 4 (22:50) loves acting. And so he throws himself wholeheartedly into the work knowing that what they're doing on the show is there's something wrong about it. Speaker 1 (22:59) Right. He has like a friend character who is calling and checking in and is also an aspiring actor. Yes, Speaker 4 (23:08) the hysterical Eric Ray. So funny. Speaker 1 (23:12) I mean, the best line deliveries of the year so far. He's also Speaker 4 (23:16) hysterical in Maddie's Secret. He plays Maddie's husband. Yeah, incredible. He's such a funny actor. Speaker 1 (23:22) he's calling and he's like making jokes about making jokes about the content, not taking any of it seriously. And then is also just telling the Dan character all the time, like, but like you're barely in it and it doesn't really count and you're not acting. So the, the Skylar Elizondo character is both like the conscience stand in and trying to figure out what am I doing? And. Am I a good person or a bad person? Are we doing the right thing? Are we helping? Are we hurting? But also doesn't even, like, has his own motivations and then even those aren't really fulfilled. And, like, the nice thing, I think, about this movie that does point out the ugliness around certainly this show and kind of, like, the types of people that tend to gravitate towards it is that, like, no one really learns their lesson. You know, like no one actually they do learn that like bad things happen, but it doesn't it's it's not moralizing. No, Speaker 4 (24:23) there's a devastating Merritt Weaver line at the near the very end of the movie that I think speaks to. Speaker 1 (24:28) Yeah. The Speaker 4 (24:29) lack of conscience of a lot of the people that are working on it. Yeah. A few more things about Pattinson, Speaker 1 (24:36) because Speaker 4 (24:36) we've been talking about him all year. I mean, he's. Speaker 1 (24:39) He Speaker 4 (24:39) and Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland and Zendaya, they're the story of movies this year, which is like something we've been suggesting was going to happen on this show for like 10 years and then it happened. And obviously Pattinson and Anne Hathaway have had long careers now. But for all four of those people to be hitting in big movies is interesting. This one I think is probably his boldest act. Like it's the most because it's not a supporting part. It's a huge choice. It's the kind of part that... If another, if an actor did it in the 90s, you'd hear a lot of annoying stories about what they did on set. Speaker 1 (25:10) Right. And you Speaker 4 (25:10) don't hear about that. It doesn't seem like he's like, I'm in character and being difficult and obnoxious. Yeah. It just seems like he makes big choices. He works with filmmakers who want him to make big choices. Speaker 4 (25:23) It's interesting, too, to watch somebody at this stage of his career play like a decaying egotist. You know, that's really what Hanson is, is like somebody who never quite got to, say, the Stone Phillips level. And Stone Phillips is used very amusingly in this movie as the counterpoint, a real serious journalist. And Chris can't quite get there. Speaker 1 (25:42) Yeah. And Speaker 4 (25:43) so the only thing he can do is kind of lean even deeper into this deeply malevolent kind of work that he's doing. That he also thinks is very important and powerful. Speaker 1 (25:52) Or has convinced himself is very important and powerful. And, you know, there is a lot of the character mythologizing or self-mythologizing and talking about the importance of the show within the movie, but it's never really quite clear what of that is actually true or real or just in his own psychodrama that's being made real to us. Speaker 4 (26:14) Yeah. I mean, Speaker 1 (26:16) it is a person who is having a breakdown in real time. And that is Robert Pattinson's interpretation of this role. But the way that he has the breakdown is just not how any actor would play it. Speaker 4 (26:28) It's true. But do you think that the breakdown is like, let's just, because this is not literally Chris Hansen, but in some ways it is. Speaker 4 (26:37) Is it possible that his life is just a continued breakdown? You know, that the eccentricity that is on display is also on display on the show when you watch it with the halting phrasing and the sort of dramatic line readings and the oddity of his media presence. You know, you pointed out some of the great stuff that he does throughout this movie, which feels really odd. Speaker 1 (26:56) Yeah. Speaker 4 (26:57) But I could also see Chris Hansen doing some of these things, you know? Speaker 1 (27:01) Yes. The bulletproof vest that he wears is used to great comedic effect. And I will say, the only thing where Pattinson doesn't have it spot on with Chris Hansen is that they've cut his hair, they've put him in the quarter zip, which I almost wore, actually, for this episode. Speaker 1 (27:21) He's got the clothes. He looks very much like him, but he still is also Robert Pattinson and is like incredibly handsome. And so he's there in a bulletproof vest that like accentuates his waist just so, you know, and then it's just like lying on the floor or like lounging by an indoor pool. And the production design on this is very excellent in recreating the like those types of. Early 2000s McMansion, like aspirational houses. And also the weird lighting found therein. Speaker 4 (27:54) Yeah, Lance was really funny just identifying how weird the set decoration of any To Catch a Predator set was where you have a bar in the middle of a living room. It was floating and disconnected to anything. Also Speaker 1 (28:06) always a kitchen island. Yes. So there needed to be, I guess, some sort of gathering space visually. That's very funny. But yeah, so he lies down in a bulletproof vest a lot. Lots of like weird, funny faces and and, you know, and and noises and and and bodily movements. The part where