Ancient To catch a predator Host Chris Hansen was interviewed on his podcast Friday to give his unfiltered reaction to A24’s unauthorized dramatized film of parts of his life, Prime timewhich he called overly dramatic, detached from reality and a “fever dream” – while giving Robert Pattinson’s performance a “D” rating.
Prime timewhich comes out Friday in the United States, is set in 2006 and follows Pattinson’s fictionalized version of Hansen as the popular character. To catch a predator segment on NBC Data line becomes its own primetime block on the network. On the show, Hansen blurred journalistic lines by working with law enforcement and the watchdog group Perverted Justice to intercept adult men as they arrived, unknowingly, at an undercover house to meet a minor they had met online for sex. As a result, the men were usually arrested. The series has received mixed reactions, with concerns over possible violations of entrapment law at the forefront of criticism.
In a brief segment produced for his video podcast, Sit down with Chris HansenThe former NBC News reporter is seen exiting an AMC in Times Square after watching the film for the first time during a screening Thursday night — his first look at the indie drama since its theatrical release. He was then asked for his initial reaction to the Lance Oppenheim-directed film.
“It’s hard for me to do it – obviously I’m not a judge, because the character is based on me,” he said. “I think because the character is so detached from reality, from anything I experienced at the time or today while doing the investigations, I’m not sure what the point of that is.”
In the remainder of the podcast episode, Hansen discusses the film, its director and Pattinson’s portrayal of it with Fox News’ Jesse Watters. Hansen railed against the film throughout.
Oppenheim claimed to have designed Prime time after receiving a personalized Cameo video from To catch a predator host. Hansen said on his podcast that he spoke to a mutual friend before seeing the film and that Oppenheim told the friend it was “something along the lines of ‘a love letter to Chris Hansen, and it gets a little weird in the narration’.”
Hansen also pointed out inaccuracies in the fictionalized version of his life — including scenes involving Jeff Zucker and Stone Phillips that he said never happened — and said absolutely nothing in the film was close to reality. He assured viewers that he was not the ratings-obsessed character the storyline portrays. His biggest complaint, he said, is that the film portrays him as a distant parent, which he says is a far cry from how he relates to his children. As for Pattinson’s view of Hansen circa 2006, Hansen had few kind words.
“He’s got work to do. I’m kind of the only guy that matters, right?” he said.
A few days before seeing the film, Hansen spoke with The Hollywood ReporterSeth Abramovich on what he knew about the film. A24 did not contact him or production to explain the principle or ask his opinion, he said.
“Based on what I saw in the trailer and my understanding of what was written about the film, they wanted to create something much darker and much more dramatic,” he said. “I think it’s an insult to the thousands of men and women who work hard every day to protect children from predators. They’ve turned something very positive, very empowering and not without risk into what is essentially a horror film.”
Friday, after viewing Prime timehe doubled up with a direct hit on Oppenheim.
“You have to ask yourself why you haven’t come forward and spoken to me or anyone I’ve worked closely with over the years,” he said. “They didn’t want to hear that Chris Hansen is a good guy. They didn’t want to hear that this work is important. This director had a dark image of what he wanted to do. He wanted to create a horror film with interesting photography and didn’t want to hear anything else.”
Hansen continues to identify and capture potential child predators on Getting Down with Chris Hansen. Earlier Friday, Hansen’s TruBlu streaming network released the trailer for I’m Chris Hansena documentary centered on the host.
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