Auto Focus

Last updated
Auto Focus
AutoFocus.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Paul Schrader
Written byMichael Gerbosi
Based onThe Murder of Bob Crane by Robert Graysmith
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography
Edited by Kristina Boden
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Production
companies
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Release date
  • October 18, 2002 (2002-10-18)(United States)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7 million
Box office$2.7 million

Auto Focus is a 2002 American biographical drama film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe. The screenplay by Michael Gerbosi is based on Robert Graysmith's book The Murder of Bob Crane (1993). [1] [2]

Contents

Auto Focus tells a dramatized story of actor Bob Crane, an affable radio show host and amateur drummer who found success on the popular sitcom Hogan's Heroes , and his dramatic descent into the underbelly of Hollywood after the series was cancelled and he formed a friendship with videographer John Henry Carpenter.

Carpenter was later tried, and acquitted in 1994 of Crane's murder. Although the crime remains officially unsolved, Carpenter has remained the main subject of suspicion even after his death in 1998. [3]

Synopsis

Disc-jockey-turned-actor Bob Crane develops a secret personal life, focusing on his relationship with John Henry Carpenter, an electronics expert involved with the nascent home video market. Encouraged by Carpenter and enabled by his expertise, Crane—a church-going, clean-cut family man—becomes a sex addict obsessed with women and with recording his encounters using video and photographic equipment, usually with Carpenter participating.

As the years pass, the relationship between Crane and Carpenter unravels in a dangerous way. Crane is divorced by his wife Anne before marrying Patricia Olson, a former co-star from his hit television series Hogan's Heroes . After the show goes off the air, Crane struggles to find work while dealing with money troubles. By the time Walt Disney Productions hires him for the leading role in a family movie, Superdad , his reputation for being obsessed with sex and pornography starts to jeopardize his image.

Confined to doing dinner theater in mid-sized cities, Crane's attempts to distance himself from Carpenter fail as their sexual escapades continue. Carpenter soon becomes "my only friend", but after a final falling-out between them in Scottsdale, Arizona, someone bludgeons Crane to death inside a motel room. Carpenter is tried for the murder, but many years later, he is acquitted in 1994. To this day, Crane's murder remains unsolved.

Cast

Production

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was shown at the San Sebastián Film Festival, the Helsinki International Film Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival, the New Orleans Film Festival, and the Bergen International Film Festival before going into limited release on eleven screens in the US, earning $123,761 on its opening weekend. It grossed $2,063,196 in the US and $641,755 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $2,704,951. [4]

Release

Critical reception

The film met with a largely positive reception from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 71% based on 163 reviews, and an average rating of 6.64/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Kinnear and Dafoe help make this downward spiral of one man's life a compelling watch." [5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [6]

A. O. Scott of The New York Times said the film "gets to you like a low-grade fever, a malaise with no known antidote. When it was over, I wasn't sure if I needed a drink, a shower or a lifelong vow of chastity ... there is [a] severe, powerful moralism lurking beneath the film's dispassionate matter-of-factness. Mr. Schrader is indifferent to the sinner, but he cannot contain his loathing of the sin, which is not so much sex as the fascination with images ... To argue that images can corrupt the flesh and hollow out the soul is, for a filmmaker, an obviously contradictory exercise, but not necessarily a hypocritical one. There is plenty of nudity in Auto Focus, but you can always glimpse the abyss behind the undulating bodies, and the director leads you from easy titillation to suffocating dread, pausing only briefly and cautiously to consider the possibility of pleasure." [7]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars, calling it "a hypnotic portrait ... pitch-perfect in its decor, music, clothes, cars, language and values ... Greg Kinnear gives a creepy, brilliant performance as a man lacking in all insight ... Crane was not a complex man, but that should not blind us to the subtlety and complexity of Kinnear's performance." [8]

Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "a compelling, sympathetic portrait ... Kinnear undercuts the seaminess of the Crane story, and shows us a man with more dimension and complexity than his behavior might suggest." [9]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded it three and a half out of four stars and added, "Schrader, the writer of Taxi Driver and the director of American Gigolo , is a poet of male sexual pathology. Shot through with profane laughs and stinging drama, Auto Focus ranks with his best films." [10]

Todd McCarthy of Variety called it "one of director Paul Schrader's best films, and like Boogie Nights ranks as a shrewd exposé of recent Hollywood's slimy underside ... Schrader directs with a very smooth hand, providing a good-natured and frequently amusing spin to eventually grim material that aptly reflects the protagonist's almost unfailing good humor ... Pic overall has an excellent period in Los Angeles feel without getting elaborate about it, and musical contributions by Angelo Badalamenti and a host of pop tunes are tops." [11]

Criticism by Scotty Crane

One of Bob Crane's sons, Scotty, bitterly attacked the film as being inaccurate. In an October 2002 article, Scotty said that his father was not a regular church-goer and had only been to church three times in the last dozen years of his life, including his own funeral. There is no evidence that Crane engaged in S&M, and director Paul Schrader told Scotty that the S&M scene was based on Schrader's own personal experience. Scotty claims that his father and John Carpenter did not become close friends who socialized together until 1975, and that Crane was already a sex addict and had recorded his sexual encounters since 1956, long before he became famous. [12]

Scotty and his mother had written their own script for a film biography on Crane. The spec script, alternately titled "F-Stop" and "Take Off Your Clothes and Smile", was written up in Variety by columnist Army Archerd, but after Auto-Focus was announced, interest in Scotty's script ceased. [13]

Awards and nominations

Paul Schrader was nominated for the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.[ citation needed ] Willem Dafoe was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by the Chicago Film Critics Association but lost to Tim Robbins for Mystic River .[ citation needed ]

Home media

The DVD release includes a 50-minute documentary, Murder in Scottsdale, which delves into the initial murder investigation and the reopening of the case some 15 years later.[ citation needed ] The DVD also features several audio commentary tracks.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Crane</span> American actor, drummer, host, and DJ (1928–1978)

Robert Edward Crane was an American actor, drummer, radio personality, and disc jockey known for starring in the CBS situation comedy Hogan's Heroes.

<i>Affliction</i> (1997 film) 1997 film by Paul Schrader

Affliction is a 1997 American neo-noir crime drama directed and written by Paul Schrader. Based on the 1989 novel by Russell Banks, the film stars Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn, and Willem Dafoe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willem Dafoe</span> American actor (born 1955)

William James "Willem" Dafoe is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, four Golden Globe Awards, four Critics' Choice Movie Awards and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Lars von Trier, Julian Schnabel, Wes Anderson, and Robert Eggers. Dafoe was a founding member of experimental theater company The Wooster Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Schrader</span> American film director (born 1946)

Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader is more prolific as a director: his 23 films include Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), and First Reformed (2017), with the last of these earning him his first Academy Award nomination. Schrader's work frequently depicts "man in a room" stories which feature isolated, troubled men confronting an existential crisis.

<i>Zodiac</i> (film) 2007 American film by David Fincher

Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by James Vanderbilt, based on the nonfiction books by Robert Graysmith: Zodiac (1986) and Zodiac Unmasked (2002). It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr., with Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Chloë Sevigny, Philip Baker Hall, and Dermot Mulroney in supporting roles.

<i>Light Sleeper</i> 1992 film by Paul Schrader

Light Sleeper is a 1992 American crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader and starring Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, and Dana Delany. Set in New York City during a sanitation strike, the gritty neo-noir film stars Dafoe as a high-class drug dealer battling a midlife crisis before becoming embroiled in tragic events following the chance encounter with a former girlfriend. While under-performing at the box office, the film was regarded favorably by critics.

<i>Anamorph</i> (film) 2007 American film

Anamorph is a 2007 independent psychological thriller film directed by Henry S. Miller and starring Willem Dafoe. Dafoe plays a seasoned detective named Stan Aubray, who notices that a case he has been assigned to bears a striking similarity to a previous case of his. The film is based on the concept of anamorphosis, a painting technique that manipulates the laws of perspective to create two competing images on a single canvas.

<i>Adam Resurrected</i> 2008 film directed by Paul Schrader

Adam Resurrected is a 2008 American-German-Israeli drama film directed by Paul Schrader and written by Noah Stollman based on a 1969 novel of the same name by Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk. The Hebrew title literally translates to Adam, Son of a Dog.

<i>The Cavemans Valentine</i> 2001 film by Kasi Lemmons

The Caveman's Valentine is a 2001 American mystery-drama film directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Samuel L. Jackson based on George Dawes Green's 1994 novel of the same name. The film was released by Universal Focus, a subsidiary of Universal Studios, which would later become Focus Features.

Michael Ethan Rodgers is a Scottish actor and acting coach.

<i>The Last Temptation of Christ</i> (film) 1988 film directed by Martin Scorsese

The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 epic religious drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Paul Schrader with uncredited rewrites from Scorsese and Jay Cocks, it is an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' controversial 1955 novel of the same name. The film, starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Andre Gregory, Harry Dean Stanton and David Bowie, was shot entirely in Morocco.

Robert Graysmith is an American true crime author and former cartoonist. He is known for his work on the Zodiac killer case. In recent years, Graysmith has faced scrutiny from online sleuths, who have called various aspects of his books fraudulent, and inaccurate.

<i>The Walker</i> 2007 American film

The Walker is a 2007 independent crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader and starring Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall, Ned Beatty, Lily Tomlin, Willem Dafoe, Moritz Bleibtreu and Mary Beth Hurt. It is the fourth installment in Schrader's night workers series of films, starting with Taxi Driver in 1976, followed by American Gigolo in 1980 and Light Sleeper in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Henry Carpenter</span> American accused of murder (1928–98)

John Henry Carpenter was an American video equipment salesman, most widely known as a friend of—and the accused murderer of—actor Bob Crane, who died in 1978.

<i>4:44 Last Day on Earth</i> 2011 film by Abel Ferrara

4:44 Last Day on Earth is a 2011 apocalyptic drama film written and directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Willem Dafoe, Shanyn Leigh, Natasha Lyonne, and Paul Hipp. An international co-production of the United States, France, Switzerland, and Chile, the film received mixed reviews from critics upon release.

<i>Pasolini</i> (film) 2014 film

Pasolini is a 2014 English-language internationally co-produced drama film directed by Abel Ferrara and written by Maurizio Braucci about the final days of Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini. It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. It was also screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

<i>Dog Eat Dog</i> (2016 film) 2016 American film

Dog Eat Dog is a 2016 American action thriller film directed by Paul Schrader with a screenplay by Matthew Wilder, based on Edward Bunker's 1995 novel of the same name. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willem Dafoe filmography</span> Actor filmography

Willem Dafoe is an American actor known for his work in To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Platoon (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Flight of the Intruder (1991), Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), The Boondock Saints (1999), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), Spider-Man (2002), Finding Nemo (2003), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Manderlay (2005), Antichrist (2009), The Florida Project (2017), At Eternity's Gate (2018), The Lighthouse (2019), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and Poor Things (2023).

<i>The Card Counter</i> 2021 film by Paul Schrader

The Card Counter is a 2021 American crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, and Willem Dafoe. Martin Scorsese is an executive producer.

There Are No Saints is a 2022 Mexican-American action thriller film directed by Alfonso Pineda Ulloa, written by Paul Schrader, and starring José María Yazpik, Paz Vega, Ron Perlman and Tim Roth.

References

  1. ↑ Booth, William (March 1, 2007). "A Killer Obsession". The Washington Post.
  2. ↑ Graysmith, Robert (May 18, 1993). The Murder of Bob Crane: Who Killed the Star of Hogan's Heroes? . Crown Publishers. ISBN   9780517592090.
  3. ↑ "Motion Picture Purgatory: Auto Focus". DreadCentral. 3 November 2009.
  4. ↑ "Auto Focus". BoxOfficeMojo.com.
  5. ↑ "Auto Focus (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Auto Focus Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  7. ↑ Scott, A.O. (October 4, 2002). "Movies: Auto Focus". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Ebert, Roger (October 25, 2002). "Reviews: Auto Focus". Chicago Sun-Times . Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  9. ↑ Guthmann, Edward (October 25, 2002). "Review: Auto Focus". San Francisco Chronicle.
  10. ↑ Travers, Peter (October 17, 2002). "Movie Reviews: Auto Focus". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 15, 2007.
  11. ↑ Schrader, Paul (September 2, 2002). "Review: Auto Focus". Variety.
  12. ↑ Crane, Scotty. "Raging Bullshit: Auto Focus Is Not My Dad's Story". The Stranger. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  13. ↑ "The Truth About Bob Crane". Morty's TV.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.