Auto Focus

Review by Clint Morris

"I always wanted to make an impression," states humorist Bob Crane.

And make an impression he did.

In fact, Crane became so much a sensation that everyone wanted a piece of him, every girl wanted to sleep with him, and some men just loved to 'envy him'.

As the star of the hit TV show 'Hogan's Heroes', it all looked rosy for Bob Crane.

Until he took a wrong turn on an encrusted road, never to recover from the milieu of shame he'd wound up in.

Based on the book "The Murder of Bob Crane", Paul Schrader's film takes a biographical look at the life of the radio announcer turned actor turned sex-hound, while examining the finer elements of his existence that might have played a part in his eventual murder.

Auto Focus is a peculiarly alluring film. It starts out light and comical - no doubt to emphasize the unblemished life of the early Crane - before taking a dark, moody turn into post-Hogan's Heroes, where Crane and newfound buddy, nonconformist John Carpenter (Willem Dafoe) divulge into a world of sex, drugs and scandal - filming women on newly conceived video recorders and photographing the smut they surround themselves in.

"Every day without a sex, is a day wasted," the men recite.

Although the film doesn't offer much insight into the unsolved murder of the actor [besides pointing the finger at obvious suspect, Carpenter] or the spur into his double life, Schrader's film is still a marvel.

Greg Kinnear is immersing as Crane: He not only looks the part, but he sounds the part and comes across nothing but credible. At the same time, Dafoe is the perfect choice for the strange Carpenter, while Mario Bello is imposing as Crane's second wife.

Auto Focus isn't for the light-hearted though. The hefty amount of dirty sex and nudity in the film is likely to put sticklers off, while the sordid themes are likely to send 'Hogan's' fans packing.

But as an artistic endeavour, examining the mysterious life of a (likeable) man, Focus packs quite a punch, and features a performance that has to be seen to be believed.

4 out of 5

Auto Focus
Australian release: Thursday July 10th
Cast: Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Mario Bello, Rita Wilson, Ron Leibman, Ed Begley Jr, Michael McKean.
Director: Paul Schrader.
Website: Click here

Brought to you by MovieHole