Chris Hansen has finally screened the Robert Pattinson film inspired by his life and delivered a witheringly blunt review.
Hansen, 67, watched “Primetime” after initially refusing an early private screening because he would not sign a nondisclosure agreement required of all preview audiences, according to a source close to distributor A24. The longtime TV host has since made clear he found little to praise in the finished product.
“At the end of the day, I wasn’t blown away by it either way. It’s a movie. And I’ll continue to the work I do,” Hansen said in a clip ahead of a fuller discussion. “And people can watch this movie and make up their own lives.”
The A24 film, released in US theaters on September 25 and due in the UK on October 30, dramatizes the making of Hansen’s NBC reality series “To Catch a Predator,” which ran from 2004 to 2007. Pattinson plays a fictionalized version of Hansen, while Skyler Gisondo portrays decoy actor Dan Plumb.
Hansen’s latest remarks follow repeated criticism of the project. He has previously described the movie as “completely made up,” saying he believes it is “98 per cent pure fiction.”
One of his sharpest complaints centered on how the film portrayed his relationship with his sons. Hansen told The Wrap that the movie depicted him as “an aloof, detached father,” characterizing those scenes as “mean-spirited, untrue, and unworthy of the viewers’ time.”
The host discussed the movie in greater detail on his “Have A Seat” podcast, where he recalled director Lance Oppenheim telling him the project was intended as a “love letter.”
“If that’s a love letter, I’d hate to get a poison pen letter from this director,” Hansen fired back.
When asked to grade Pattinson’s performance as the fictionalized Hansen, the TV host gave the “Twilight” actor a “D” while still acknowledging that he is a talented actor.
Pattinson, for his part, had previously responded to Hansen’s public criticism with measured understanding. “He’s a public person,” the actor said. “He is also just being asked about it,” Pattinson added that he was surprised people were still debating the ethics of a television series that first aired around two decades ago.
The real-life “To Catch a Predator” featured Hansen confronting men who had been lured to homes after believing they were communicating with minors online, with police then making arrests. The series became a cultural phenomenon before its 2007 conclusion, though it also generated ongoing controversy about its methods and ethics that has persisted in public discussion.
Hansen’s latest comments suggest he is now leaving audiences to form their own judgments about the dramatization, even as his own verdict remains unmistakably negative.
“Primetime” is scheduled to open in UK theaters on October 30.