Auto Focus

After a while, I really did get more of what director Paul Schrader was aiming for with Auto Focus, the tale of males caught in some sort of odd damnation of both free will and morality. It's more like a drug movie, only here the drug being the opposite sex, and almost a singularly male ego-trip, instead of common narcotics. But it's also a very fine character study where the idea of character is taken into consideration, of how much one can seem a certain way, but then be stuck in with flaws and insecurities and, ultimately, temptation. The last of which is what Schrader puts into focus early on, but then after a while when temptation is gone, the film becomes a direct plunge into complete debauchery. And appropriately, like with all addicts, for a while nothing seems wrong at all about all of this.

Greg Kinnear is definitely in one of his best parts here, as he plays someone who is an actor who keeps his actor-like charms off the set as well. In Hollywood, away from the confines of Connecticut, his Bob Crane lands the lead on Hogan's heroes, but can't resist the first temptations of the night-life. This comes, in an introductory way and then throughout as a tag-along/counterpart, with John Carpenter (not the director, played with the best match by Willem Dafoe of being a creep and alluring at times), who shows him the ropes and hooks him up with video equipment. But as Crane goes deeper into his sexual drives, divorces, marries again and divorces again, his acting career and his livelihood seem to slip away. The themes of being perversely the 'All-American Male' are accentuated by Kinnear's Crane in voice-over as he talks about the unbridled joys of sex, and in an interview with a Christian publication he says 'I don't...make waves'. By the last third of his story, however, into the rot of the 70s, he's lost touch with the reality of his pleasures- or rather necessities.

Auto Focus isn't at times an easy movie to sit through; it's even cringe-worthy in a couple of scenes (notably for me was when he guest stars on a celebrity cooking show, only to keep on his sexually-driven side with audience members). Then there are other scenes (i.e. 'you have fingers up you-know-where', and the genital enhancement) where male masculinity is questioned, and in very peculiar ways between Crane and Carpenter; Crane is homophobic, but then what exactly is Carpenter's function? More than anything, less than being a friend, he becomes a kind of unintentional pusher, where the draw of going out on the town becomes a crux for both of the men. What's just as fascinating then is how Schrader aligns this with his style- the first half is mostly very slick and professional-looking, almost like an HBO bio-pic or something. But then as the characters lose a grip on everything except themselves, there's a hand-held, distorted view to everything. There's lots of nudity and on-screen sex (some blurred out, likely by MPAA request), yet Schrader gets something more shocking, in the mind at least, as Carpenter almost becomes the antagonist in a way as the story winds down (the last phone call marks this most).

Auto Focus has the ideal of the usual biographical drama of a somebody in Hollywood who soon loses himself to becoming a nobody, but there's plenty under the surface that makes it more intriguing. Crane's two sides to his persona- the celebrity one, and the personal 'lifestyle' one- become one and the same after a while, Kinnear being able to make such a near-irredeemable person somewhat sympathetic (or at the least very watchable). And Carpenter's more truthful, emotional, and scary turn is made palatable by Dafoe's equally nuanced performance. It's not great, but it's a near-classic of the tale-of-such-and-such-star when so many don't take in what's deeper into account. A-

Bob Crane's life is the subject of Auto Focus from 2002.

A popular star of the hit series Hogan's Heroes, Crane was a sex addict who enjoyed videotaping his sexual encounters. His partner in this endeavor was video expert John Carpenter.

Crane was murdered while doing dinner theater in Arizona. John Carpenter was a suspect in the murder, as were others. Carpenter was ultimately brought to trial and acquitted. The crime scene had been sloppily handled, and by the time Carpenter was arrested years later, evidence was missing. Carpenter died four years after his trial. The film's point of view suggests he was indeed the killer.

Crane had told his son that Carpenter was a hanger-on and he was getting ready to dump him, which police felt was a good motive for anger leading to murder.

Paul Schrader does a good job of directing, and the performances are solid from Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe especially. I do have to say that Kurt Fuller, a favorite of mine, was absolutely fantastic as Werner Klemperer in his role of Colonel Klink - one would have thought he was Werner - the look, the accent, the mannerisms - perfect.

Schrader shows Crane's decline, using both music and atmosphere to create what became the empty life of a man looking for something that he could never find. The DVD has a documentary about the murder on it, and his daughter states when interviewed that Crane was a wonderful father, "very doting." A sad story of the double life of someone who lit up the TV screen in the '60s.

Wow, is Greg Kinnear nothing short of amazing in this film or what! An incredible performance as Bob Crane, seriously virtuoso. When, towards the end, he visits his agent and is all messed up, and starts saying "sex is normal. I'm normal" - Kinnear reaches a pinnacle in his young film acting career. I have always felt that actors ascend to the next level of craft and stardom when they breakthrough with a biographical role; see - Denzel Washington in Malcom X, Ben Kingsley in Ghandi, Robert Downey Jr in Chaplin, Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia. And now Greg Kinnear has made that leap with Auto Focus, a well-crafted and seductive film by Paul Schrader, Hollywood's last bastion of non-sugar coated filmmakers. Basically the story of Hollywood's most intriguing unsolved murder, Auto Focus also pulls back the curtain on "good guy" Bob Crane's lecherous and painfully discombobulated private and secret life. What is also amazing about this film is how is records the birth of video and the VCR. Bob Crane turns out to be one of the pioneer "users" of this technology. When we see or hear video, video cameras, or VCRs, we probably automatically think of home movies, recording episodes of Star Trek, or the Star Wars prequels' lack of cinematic quality. When Bob Crane heard about video cameras and VCRs, he automatically thought of sex. Though the film makes no mention of it, it is quite prophetic in showing us how the technology of video created hard-core pornography and turned it into a billion dollar industry. If you think about it, nothing has profited more from video than porno, and nothing ever relied so dearly on video like porno. Bob Crane instinctively felt this, though he never was a pornographer, so to speak; he knew that sex and video can go hand in hand. Unfortunately, this was also his downfall. Like most Paul Schrader writ or directed films, by the end you get that queasy feeling, the feeling you get at the end of Goodfellas, the feeling of sadness that this great ride is over and the feeling of emptiness and loss that all that greatness came crashing down. Bob Crane's descent into moral madness can be sickening, especially when juxtaposed with Hogan's Heroes. I almost felt the desire to shower, to cleanse myself after viewing this film. I love movies that produce reactions from me, movies that linger for days. This is one of them.

Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear) is a radio DJ in Hollywood looking for acting work. In 1965, he gets an offer for an unconventional project. It's a comedy in a Nazi POW camp. Hogan's Heroes becomes a big hit. He befriends home video salesman John Carpenter (Willem Dafoe) in a strip club. Unlike his public wholesome image, his interests in strippers, sex, and home video are heightened by Carpenter and his state-of-the-art cameras. It's a toxic friendship of easy women, sexual proclivity, and hidden videos. In 1970, he divorces his wife Anne (Rita Wilson) and marries his co-star Sigrid Valdis, real name Patricia Olson (Maria Bello). Crane and Carpenter's friendship based on their sad common interest degenerates.

Director Paul Schrader often dives into the darker side of humanity. It's a sad portrait well delivered by Kinnear. On the other hand, the movie is not always great at delivering the danger and tension. For half of the movie, Bob Crane is not threatened with discovery. This keeps the tension low. It's got a chipper tone which is weird. It would have been nice to speed up the first half. It takes too long to get to his downfall. Willem Dafoe is equally strong and necessary for this movie to work. There is interesting work here but this should be more intense.

Not having had a chance to see the movie first-run, I bought the DVD and was impressed with it. The movie itself was, to borrow a phrase from another review on this site "brilliantly disturbing." Those of us who remember when Bob Crane was murdered at an apartment in Scottsdale, AZ while doing dinner theater gig; that was weird in of itself. After all who would want to kill good old Colonel Hogan? I remember watching Crane on the show, and also on talk or game shows. He seemed so together, self-assured and quick-witted. So it was even more of a shock to find out about his double-life, which this movie covers so well although it is perhaps a bit misleading in spots.

Greg Kinnear does very good as Crane, especially in the latter scenes of the film. I think the part of Bob Crane would be somewhat difficult to play. Crane's legendary status is caught up not in his career itself, but his life other "on camera" life. A life that ended with his bludgeoning death (by blows from a camera tripod.) in June, 1978, just two weeks before what would have been his 50th birthday. Wilhem Dafoe is even better as the creepy John "Carpie" Carpenter, a video salesman who Crane meets on the set of Hogan's Heroes. Virtually all the supporting cast is also quite good. Particularly good are Kurt Fuller as Werner Klemperer/Col. Klink and Rob Leibman, who plays Crane's agent who watches helplessly as Crane's career and personal life veer out of control and plummet.

Carpenter, an electronics expert, at the time worked for Sony, selling the new and expensive technology of videotape players to mostly celebrities or others wealthy enough to afford them. The movie takes the viewer through the mid-late 1960's as Crane and Carpenter, both sex addicts, videotape their seemingly every night exploits with women they pick up from night clubs. This is no problem for Crane who was handsome and famous. Carpenter was portrayed as a hanger-on, along for the ride, and taking Crane's "seconds." Crane, married with children is at first able to hide his double-life from his family, although his wife is suspicious of his roving eye.. As a sidebar, there are some interesting tidbits in the movie about the development of videotape in the 60's into the 70's. After the cancellation of Hogan's Heroes in 1971 and his expensive divorce (his wife found photographic evidence of his escapades), Crane's sex addition seemingly worsens. He remarries, this time to an actress who played Col Klink's secretary in the Hogan's Heroes who tells him his dalliances are okay with her. They have a son soon after they are married and even she grows weary of his being away so much with Carpenter.

The mood of the film is in the beginning almost light-hearted, almost campy at times. . As the film continues and as Crane's personal life steadily implodes, professional life goes on the decline, a sense of darkness and desperation engulf the film. This is reinforced superbly by the hues on screen and the background music. The symbiotic relationship between Crane and Carpenter are portrayed so convincingly. Crane needed Carpenter for his video expertise and Carpenter needed Crane for the access to women. It is stunning how cavalier Crane was about picking up women and taping his sex acts, with or without their consent.

Crane is portrayed as a nearly broke totally washed-up B or C grade celebrity at the time of his murder. This was not necessarily the case. Crane in fact had made a lot of guest appearances on television series and game shows in the early and mid-70's. He had been signed to star in an ABC Movie of the Week shortly before his murder. Crane also owned a portion of Hogan's Heroes, and had received a royalty check in 1977 of over $95,000. Doing dinner theater was more a choice he had made, and he was making amounts off dinner theater that rivaled his royalty checks. Not a fortune, but a very decent living, especially for that time. To be sure he was strained by having to support one but two families, plus his addiction. He was not the big star he was, but not in oblivion, either. Only so much can be covered in the film's 90 or so minute running time, but the notion that his professional life was in smithereens was a bit misleading. Yet, many in Hollywood knew about his exploits and it no doubt cost him in professional opportunities. There is debate on both sides whether or not Crane at the time of his murder was attempting to change his life.

Near the end it is clear Crane had grown tired of "Carpie" and had basically told him the friendship as they knew it was coming to an end. This was just a day or so before his murder. Carpenter was arrested and tried years later for the murder but acquitted. He died in 1998, and the case officially remains unsolved.

Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) directs so well this lurid and unflinching story. The DVD has lots of extras, including 3 different commentaries. The first by Kinnear and Dafoe, is good. Schrader's commentary is best as it offers a lot of insight into how they were able to make a relatively low-budget picture ($7 million I recall) look like they easily spent twice that amount. There is a third commentary was by the screenplay writers that I found dull. The deleted scenes are worth watching. For those interested in the Crane murder and the "whodunit" aspect there is a 45 minute feature entitled "Murder in Scottsdale" loaded with interviews and archival footage. The movie is based on Robert Graysmith's The Murder of Bob Crane, which I found to be interesting reading.