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That was an excellent one.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Famed screenwriter turned director Paul Schrader was the ideal directing choice for this controversial look at the last years (starting in 1965) of former sitcom star Bob Crane before his untimely unsolved murder in 1978. The film details how Bob Crane got the coveted lead role on "Hogan's Heroes" to his fateful meeting with John Carpenter (not to confused with the famous horror film director) and the infamous downward spiral that lead to the decline of Crane's career and ultimately to his murder.Playing the important role of Bob Crane is Greg Kinnear who is quite well suited to the part. The actor dyed his normally blonde hair to resemble the late sitcom star's trademark dark hair to donning the iconic "Hogan Heroes"'s jacket (the actual jacket worn by Bob was loaned to the film by the surviving relatives) and tackling the distinctive vocal tone Crane was known for (without trying way too hard to be carbon-copy, but paying tribute). Kinnear displays a unique chemistry with his fellow costars from a contentious professional relationship with Michael Rodgers who plays Richard Dawson (who played Le Beau on "Hogan Heroes"), a strained and eventually adversarial marriage and divorce with Rita Wilson who plays Bob Crane's first wife Anne, a really strange and well publicized (at the time) marriage to his second wife Patty 'Sigrid Valdis' played by Maria Bello and then there is the twisted and disturbing friendship with friend and sexual escapade wing-man John Carpenter played to sleazy and creepy perfection by Willem Dafoe. Kinnear manages to capture all the highs and lows of Bob Crane's personal and professional life without going over the top when the actor hits a low point, maintaining a stoicism that keeps Kinnear grounded. There are a few moments where the actor delves into some cartoonish comedy with costar Dafoe, but makes it fit the "black comedy" moniker of the film.As the yin to Greg Kinnear's yang, John Carpenter, is another fine performance by Willem Dafoe. Adorned in an extremely trendy 1960s-1970s wardrobe while spouting the era's trademark phrases, Dafoe maintains a stand-offish vibe for John Carpenter that contrasts the more outgoing Greg Kinnear's Bob Crane yet the actor is still charismatic when called upon for the film's shocking sex scenes or when he flirts with female characters. Rarely slipping into comedic moments except for a spot-on impression of late actor Werner Klemperer's famous "Hogan!" line and some sideline cheer-leading for his and Kinnear's debaucherous acts, Dafoe spearheads the dramatic elements as his character was the catalyst for Bob Crane's infamous fall from grace. By the time of the former friends' falling out, the tension spikes during the final phone call where Dafoe coldly refuses a lift to the airport with an ominous sounding "Don't bother. Don't ****ing bother." The narrative is based on true events with regards to Bob Crane's time as a radio DJ, to starring on "Hogan's Heroes", his tumultuous relationships with his wives (though not much was publicized except for Crane's 2nd marriage) and his escapades with John Carpenter. The film is based off the true crime book by famed writer Robert Graysmith (who also wrote a book on the Zodiac murders that David Fincher made into a film) who does stick to facts with some embellishments of course as no one knows what occurred during many of the film's events. The script does paint a realistic portrait of the story that the public was fed after Bob Crane's death detailing his infamous sexual escapades that were indeed captured on video by both Crane and Carpenter to the film's final note about how John Carpenter was accused, eventually charged and acquitted of murder in the 1990s (nearly two decades after Crane's murder) and Carpenter's 1998 death. The film does not assume to know the whole story, but portrays the action as accurately as possible and with a voyeuristic quality that lets us peek into the narrative while remaining on the outside perimeter. This movie will certainly be hard to watch fr its debaucherous acts and unflinching insight into its subjects. Still a cinematic viewing experience worth taking if desired.

Unless your as morally bankrupt as Bob Crane, this movie should leave you feeling so grotty you may find yourself wanting to scrub yourself clean. Perhaps this film is as much an expose' of producer/director Paul Schrader as it is of Mr Crane - the two faced TV star in denial of his real-life condition. Schrader, sometimes a fellow collaborator of Scorsese, who like Scorsese, is drawn to these stories of people wallowing in their own carnal excesses, seems to be enjoying it far too much. Some have written that they think Schrader is on a moral crusade but his work overflows with so much perverse detail it tends to paint him as little more than a fellow pornographer (as with Pasolini and Bertolucci). 'Auto Focus' also has too much fiction amongst its facts. Unfortunately, as with many based on 'fact' productions - speculation creeps in - especially where two people are in particular situations alone - film makers and writers use these opportunities to add their own suppositions as how the events may have actually played out.Here, Bob Crane, a relatively 'B' grade performer who becomes the star of the 1965 TV sit-com "Hogan's Heroes" - is painted as a regular church going family man - according to his son he was not. Crane ruined two marriages with his perverse sexual addictions. The script also follows an obvious bias by setting-up his fellow partner (involved in numerous pornographic photography sessions) John Carpenter, as the only suspect for Crane's murder - this also was not so. This 'set-up' is too obvious and somewhat weakly developed - it just doesn't work all that well. We end up knowing more about the vile exploits of Crane and Carpenter than we really need and not enough of what else was playing out at this time.Crane, for all his amiable outward persona, made many enemies - any could also have been involved with his murder. The DVD includes a documentary covering the two subsequent investigations and court cases that may (or may not) help to shed light on this brutal murder - a murder that to this day, remains unsolved. Maybe all you need to see (if interested in this sordid case) is the doco. Apart from good performances, sleazy (and maybe not for all the right reasons) is the overall feeling left following this show.

Involving and insightful film shows the dark side of actor Bob Crane who played the legendary character, Hogan on Hogan's Heroes, with Kinnear giving a splendid performance, where Dafoe must be highly commended too as his "leech hanger on'er" friend, John Carpenter. The reenactment of the murder and grisly crime scene, isn't exaggerated, either, as having seen the real one. The movie boasts many other great performances, especially from Rita Wilson as Crane's first wife and from his kids, with some others, worth a mention. The movie begins just before Crane was given that once in a lifetime role, and does go quite a bit behind the casting, rehearsal reads, and filming of Hogan's Hero's, which this aspect of the movie, I really enjoyed where it really blended in well with the rest of the movie. The movie centres a lot on Crane's womanizing and cheating, if a little too much, up past his second divorce with the lead actress of the show, which was painfully sad and heavy, for a bit. He was a sex addict, who couldn't contain his urges, and there's a lot of frank nudity in front of the rolling camera, where during his and his friend's John's sexcapades, they would film it. Whether Carpenter, an avid video photographer, killed Crane, one can't really say, although before it, what gave motive, was Crane's sudden rejection of his real only friend. Although the film seems longer than it is, Auto Focus, is engrossing, as is watching the actors who played beside Crane, like Dawson, a homosexual, and enemy to Crane. I honestly thought Kinnear was worthy of Oscar nomination status, here, but there can only be so many for that selected and elite pool. It will be a performance though, that'll never leave you and you'll always remember, especially Kinnear's funny moments. Screenplay by Taxi Driver great, Paul Schrader, director, here too.

After several television appearances, actor Bob Crane landed the starring role of Hogan's Heroes, a television series which ran from 1965 to 1971. The majority of baby boomers will remember it well. After the series ended, Crane made several unsuccessful attempts at continuing his television career, including his own television series: The Bob Crane Show was canceled after just 15 episodes in 1975. He was reduced to the dinner theater circuit in the mid to late 1970's when he eventually was murdered in cold-blooded fashion on June 29, 1978. How did he go from television star to obscurity in a matter of seven years? Paul Schrader's film Auto Focus suggests it was Crane's debauched lifestyle that did him in. After Crane's bloodied and bludgeoned body was discovered, police found a large number of home made sex videos with Crane and his friend John Carpenter.Greg Kinnear stars as Bob Crane, the penultimate likable guy and radio DJ, circa 1964. Kinnear has Crane down perfectly, except you have to wonder if Crane was really that superficial or was the script just that superficial? Schrader suggests that Crane really was that shallow, and Crane's pornographic fervor fueled his career decline. Crane never realized it as witnessed by the script's closing narration given by Kinnear as Crane after his death. Despite the support Crane received after death from his second wife about changing his life around, it seems like Crane became a pariah in the industry, increasingly shunned for his inappropriate behavior as an out-of-control womanizer disconnected from reality. The film's "Celebrity Cooks" appearance, which Crane filmed 6 days before he was killed, makes this apparent.Willem Dafoe stars as John "Carpy" Carpenter, the electronic technician working on the cutting edge of the dawning video age. Crane's association with Carpenter drew him deeper into a world of hedonistic sex and pornographic home movies. The film seems to be ambiguous to a certain extent regarding the catalyst for pushing Crane over the edge, but he had already built up a collection of nude magazines of the day, including Gent, Swank, and others. However, director Paul Schrader indicated Hollywood didn't corrupt anybody, but it allowed corrupt individuals to continue their corruption. I agree with Schrader's assessment. The cinematography uses picturesque Norman Rockwell types of colors and settings in the early part of the film, and then it slowly gravitates to darker hues as the film progresses and Crane's personal turmoil becomes more apparent. The fantasy sequence when Crane's Hogan's Heroes' set collides with his personal demons is just one of these darker moments. Kinnear and Dafoe are both interesting enough to carry the film, and as with most of Schrader's films, the supporting cast is excellent. Rita Wilson, as Crane's high school sweetheart and his first wife Anne, is prim and proper in a 1960's sort of way. Maria Bello is fantastic as Patricia, Crane's second wife he married on the set of Hogan's Heroes. Ron Leibman is great as Lenny the agent who increasingly warns Crane to tone down or hide his personal life or his career will suffer. Ultimately, it's a film that draws no conclusions about Crane's murder or passes no judgment on Crane's wild lifestyle. It's simply a sad story about a likable guy who never realizes his addiction to sex and the effect it has on his career and those around him. It's also a film about exploiting celebrity status for one's gain and the unending number of seemingly ordinary people who are only too willing to be hoodwinked by individuals with barely a modicum of celebrity status. Schrader continues his string of disturbing portraits of male protagonists with sexual ambivalence and hangups. Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, Jake VanDorn in Hardcore, Julian in American Gigolo, Paul Gallier in Cat People, Yukio Mishima in Mishima, Robert and even Colin in The Comfort Of Strangers, Wade Whitehouse in Affliction, Alan Riply in Forever Mine, and now Bob Crane in Auto Focus. The sexual dichotomy in Auto Focus is much more extreme than in the other films, and Crane's rise and fall parallels the innocence to cynicism transition American society underwent from the mid 1960's to the late 1970's at the time. Michael Gerbosi wrote the script based on Robert Graysmith's book: The Murder Of Bob Crane. *** of 4 stars.