DVD Auto Focus

Schmile!

First off, let me say that I have never seen an episode of "Hogan's Heroes"; my father, a WW2 vet from the European theatre, refused to have it on in our house. Thus, I have no clear image of the real Bob Crane, meaning that I can't really tell whether Kinnear's portrayal is cariacature, dead-on, or way off.

But that didn't bother me none. He actually reminded me of a somewhat unsavory man I know in real life, so I had no trouble making the leap that this seeming family man was actually a Real Creep in sheep's clothing. Kinnear does a great job as we see him disintegrate from a respectable vaguely naive man into a joyful then joyless sexaholic. It's a shame, really, that neither he nor his talented co-star Willem Dafoe got Oscar nominations for their work in this film. Dafoe brings to mind every lounge lizard you've ever seen as the Mephistopheles character to Bob Crane/Faust. It's Carpenter (Dafoe) who, as a pioneer in video tech doing some work for "Hogan" co-star Richard Dawson, introduces Crane to swinging and videotaping their joint sexual escapades. The two feed off each other for well over a decade until a final ugly altercation. Shortly after, Crane is found murdered in a motel room; the filmmakers imply that the guilty party is Carpenter.

While I may not be conversant with Bob Crane's visage, like anyone else from the 1970s I do know "Family Feud" host Richard Dawson, and I have to say that this guy was terrible casting in that role. I don't know how long it took even for me to realize who this actor was supposed to be playing--nothing like him at all! More like Tommy Tune than the short somewhat stocky real
Dawson.

But that's about the only complaint I have about "Auto Focus", with the possible exception of the unhelpful title. When I went to the theatre, I couldn't for the life of me remember what this movie was supposed to be about, even though I knew I'd seen the trailer before. It just doesn't communicate anything to its potential audience, which may explain that a lot of people didn't find out about this movie, good though it is.

"Auto Focus" does a creditable job of capturing the emptiness of Crane and Carpenter's sex addiction; one telling moment is when the two men are comparing notes on which cities have the best in certain sexual specialties, the way some others might talk about bus service. Another time, the two men are watching footage of themselves and begin to masturbate, each alone in his addiction despite the other's presence. Interesting too that Crane is up for any kind of action except homosexual; he goes ballistic when he sees Carpenter's hand on his own naked posterior during an orgy.

In the end, the main moral of "Auto Focus" is that loss of control in one area eventually spells disaster in every facet of Crane's life, whether professional or personal. Like a modern update of a morality play, we are all well warned to stay on the straight and narrow to avoid such a downfall as Bob Crane's.

Granted, it's common knowledge that Crane (Greg Kinnear) had personal problems that hampered his career following his successful run on "Hogan's Heroes." And granted, video equipment guru Carpenter (Willem Dafoe) was a problematic friend of Crane's. But when this film shows countless scenes of just the two men, alone, the viewer immediately realizes he or she is watching make-believe--nothing more. After all, no one else was privy to Crane's and Carpenter's private conversations, arguments, or alleged confrontations, which begs the question: Where is the integrity of this story?

And I didn't find any integrity, only a warped and twisted interpretation of what director Paul Schrader "thought" took place. Had AUTO FOCUS been a fictitious film--a film about a television star destroyed by his addiction to sex, aided and abetted by a sleazy friend--it would have been much more compelling. Instead, we are asked to believe the menagerie of slimy silliness and dysfunction that allegedly took place in the life of Bob Crane. They say the dead can't be defamed. AUTO FOCUS says otherwise.
--D. Mikels

WHat makes the movie "fun" is that the performance of Kinnear and Dafoe remind us of the capacity for self destruction, even when the cards dealt seem a winning hand.

IT is almost comedic, in a sad way, the precision with which the boys go about their after hours entertainment, with humorous looks at the new stuff in home video, introduced to Crane by his buddy John ( the Sony Betamax). There is a lack of tension in a story that really is not a story...the predictability made acceptable by the chance to look at the crash. The movie almost seems to be entirely about Bob's sexual versus job performances, and At least you can say that it has a sort of guided percision in that sense...the movie IS in focus.

Dafoe in particular is excellent, and Kinnear portrays convincingly how obsession of any kind can lead to ruin.