| AUTO FOCUS |
 2002 - USADirector:
Paul Schrader - Reviewed by Vickie
WhatEVER. That's it? Those were just a few of my thoughts upon leaving the screening of Paul Schrader's tedious and disappointing biopic of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane and the seamier side of his life. As many folks may have heard by now, Crane—who was the epitome of a clean-cut sitcom star, complete with wife and kids—actually had a fairly self-destructive sex addiction and one that he enjoyed capturing on film. This fascination with having lots and lots of sex with lots and lots of different women slowly sent Crane spiraling into a dark abyss of clandestine (or not) rendezvous, two failed marriages and a "career" as a has-been TV actor making the rounds in seriously bad bits of dinner theater. Greg Kinnear plays Crane in the film, which traces Crane's life from his days as Hogan to his still-unsolved murder in 1978. Willem Dafoe is John Carpenter, the oversexed, high-tech whiz who introduced Crane to the wonders of photography, home movies and, eventually, videotape—all of which served to capture both their conquests for posterity. Rita Wilson and Maria Bello are also along for the ride in the pretty-thankless roles of Crane's two wives. Now see, this movie is being talked about for being "shocking" and "daring." HUH?!? I'm not sure if I saw a different cut of the film than everyone else, but there was nothing shocking OR daring about Auto Focus. In fact, it doesn't really tell us anything we haven't already heard about Bob Crane on one of Entertainment Tonight's special "whatever happened to your favorite stars" weekend shows. The filmmakers do make it fairly clear who they think killed Crane, but even that's not terribly new or interesting. There's no shock value in the way sex is dealt with, either. Most of the action happens just off-camera (Kinnear keeps all his bits and pieces offscreen) and the only thing you really see are some breasts here and there (there might have been a shot or two of something more, but I was too bored to care). Lots is implied, but implication isn't generally considered "daring" or risqué. Neither is it original. The whole movie is supposed to shed some light on the dark side of Bob Crane, but no light is shed. The constant sex even gets boring after a while, since much of the movie is just one scene after another of Bob and John picking up women, taking them home and taping them doing the deed. That's it. We know time is passing because about two-thirds of the way through the movie, Greg Kinnear starts wearing a fat suit and stuffs what I can only guess are rolls of cotton batten into his cheeks to indicate "aging." If Schrader et al. wanted to make an original film dealing with sex (since a biography of Bob Crane this ain't), why not do something like Secretary, which tackles the theme of what some would consider a "deviant" lifestyle in a smart, unique fashion. Or, if they wanted to go for an all-out, eye-popping shock-fest, perhaps they should have looked to the entire Catherine Breillat oeuvre for inspiration. But no. Instead, we get a run-of-the-mill, nothing-to-see-here, gloss-over-pretty-much-everything snoozefest. It tells us very little about Crane outside of his rather curious "hobby." The film has already been denounced by one of Crane's sons for, presumably, its inaccuracies. In my opinion, it should also be denounced for being so painfully boring and uninteresting. Save your money. Stay home and watch a Hogan's Heroes rerun instead. |
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