Review #1,386: 'Auto Focus' (2002)

Based on Robert Graysmith's book The Murder of Bob Crane, Auto Focus is one of director Paul Schrader's finest works. Similar to the likes of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, which were written by Schrader, the film is a rather depressing yet insightful portrait of a man's oblivious decent into self-destruction, whose actions end up isolating everybody around them. Crane was best known for the successful sitcom Hogan's Heroes which, after getting past initial criticism for its World War II POW camp setting, made the former DJ into one of the most recognisable faces in America. On the surface, Crane was a clean-cut, church-going Republican, but his private life was laced with many sordid secrets, many of which only became public knowledge after he was bludgeoned to death in his bed in 1978.

Crane's fame attracted the attention of many women and hangers-on. The most notable of his new acquaintances was John Carpenter, here played by Willem Dafoe, the self-proclaimed technician to the stars who boasts of carrying out stereo installation work for the likes of Elvis Presley. Carpenter, or 'Carpy', was drawn to the ease with which the family man attracted the opposite sex, and Crane at first seems rather taken aback by all the females now throwing themselves at him. With Carpy's encouragement, Crane starts to indulge in a fantasy life, one full of alcohol, orgies and video cameras. He gets a taste for the life, and it soon begins to consume him. It never becomes clear whether the pair get a kick out of the sex itself, or recording it to watch back later. Their motto is "a day without sex is a day wasted," and Crane seeks it out at every opportunity, gaining a reputation amongst his peers despite warnings from his agent (Ron Leibman) that his actions may have a devastating effect on his career.

His career happened to nosedive once Hogan's Heroes ended anyway, but that didn't slow him down. Openly flaunting graphic photographs of his adventures to anybody who looks his way, Crane is the very definition of oblivious. He defends his hobby as perfectly normal, and the film suggests that he probably remained unaware of his casual creepiness up until the moment of his murder. As Crane, Greg Kinnear manages to bring a complexity and subtlety to the role despite the relative simplicity of the character, and his Hogan impression is spot-on. Seemingly always by his side, Carpenter is a sleazy, cloying and unnervingly clingy presence, and Willem Dafoe is precisely the man you would want in the role. Their friendship bristles with a strange homosexual tension, with Crane constantly talking down to his friend, becoming agitated when he spots Carpy's wandering hand while viewing one of their many orgies. Perhaps the saddest scene shows the two casually masturbating in front of each other without halting their everyday conversation, revealing a man whose addiction has completely engulfed him. It's a very sad story indeed, and it's all brought vividly to life by Schrader and his two stars.


Directed by: Paul Schrader
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello, Ron Leibman
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie