Auto Focus (2002)
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72% of critics liked it
(156 reviews) -
57% of users liked it
(5,752 ratings)
The life and sordid, untimely death of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane are explored by director Paul Schrader in this biopic, which marks one of the few times the filmmaker has not scripted his own film. Auto Focus chronologically traces the meteoric rise of Crane's show business career,… More The life and sordid, untimely death of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane are explored by director Paul Schrader in this biopic, which marks one of the few times the filmmaker has not scripted his own film. Auto Focus chronologically traces the meteoric rise of Crane's show business career, beginning with his early success as a jokey deejay on Los Angeles morning radio in the early '60s. A devout family man, Crane lives in Southern Californian comfort with his wife Anne (Rita Wilson) and their young children, relishing the modicum of celebrity his job provides him. His life begins to change, however, when his agent Lenny (Ron Leibman) proposes that he take a breakthrough role on the CBS POW-camp sitcom Hogan's Heroes. Initially reluctant to take the job, Crane signs on with the production and, to his and everyone else's surprise, the show becomes a smash hit. With celebrity comes a new set of friends, and Crane falls in with audio-visual guru John Carpenter (Willem Dafoe), a Sony sales rep who spends his days setting up home entertainment systems for the Hollywood elite, and his nights cruising strip clubs for anonymous sexual encounters. Already a pornography buff, Crane starts using his fame to secure him and Carpenter an endless parade of affairs, which they videotape and then obsessively review. It isn't long before Anne demands a divorce, and Crane marries his Hogan's co-star Patti Olsen (aka Sigrid Valdis, here played by Maria Bello), who's more accepting of his escapades. When the sitcom is canceled, however, Crane has trouble securing acting jobs, and recedes further and further into his life of amateur porn with Carpenter. Auto Focus premiered at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals before its art-house run in the fall of 2002. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Directed By
- Paul Schrader
- Written By
- Trevor Macy, Michael Gerbosi
- Genres
- Drama
- In Theaters
- Oct 18, 2002 Wide
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Classics
Critic Reviews
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Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
Schrader really isn't interested in Crane except as the straw man for his moral lessons about sin and sexuality and the nature of celebrity.
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Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
How do you make a movie with depth about a man who lacked any? On the evidence before us, the answer is clear: Not easily and, in the end, not well enough.
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Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Admirably unconventional film.
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Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
It never answers the key question: Why should we care?
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Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
Kinnear is brilliant here ... and he's matched by Dafoe.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Cast
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Greg Kinnear
as Bob Crane
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Willem Dafoe
as Johnny Carpenter
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Rita Wilson
as Anne Crane
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Maria Bello
as Patricia Crane
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Ron Leibman
as Lenny
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Kurt Fuller
as Werner Klemperer/Klink
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Ed Begley Jr
as Mel Rosen
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Michael E. Rodgers
as Richard Dawson
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Michael McKean
as Video Executive
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Christopher Neiman
as Clary
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Bruce Solomon
as Feldman
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Lyle Kanouse
as John Banner/Schultz
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Nikita Ager
as Julie






