Rating: 
Summary: Good Biopic
Review: Bob Crane, the lovable character was "Hogan's Heroes" led a double life a devoted family man and comedian to his friends and a porn-obsessed guy in private. What led to his tragic death will never be known. Forensics back then wasn't as advanced as it is now. Underneath it all, he was a man who was devoted to his first wife and children. But behind the facade was a man who loved breasts in all sizes. His lust for sex lead to the breakup of two marriages and a failing career in acting. Just as he wanted to regain his fame, he met with tragedy. This movie was good but sometimes it was gruesome where you couldn't always sit down and completely watch it. But I sat through the movie. It was scary as I watched his life go down the tubes and finally, one thinks that things are looking up for him. I wonder if his children have considered reinvestigating the murder case. Maybe they can find leads to his murder.
Rating: 
Summary: Bashful's DVD Summary #032
Review: Best:1) It gives you the details behind Bob Crane's wild sex life and subsequent murder (except the absolute identity of his killer).
2) Greg Kinnear was the best choice to play Bob (Hogan). Willem Dafoe also did a good job as his ever-present photographer friend.
3) There was a decent amount of female nudity throughout (although from unknown actors).
4) There are special features including commentary tracks and behind-the-scenes shows. Worst: 1) If you didn't watch the TV series "Hogan's Heroes" back in the 1960's (reruns on cable don't count), then you won't find anything interesting in this partial biography.
2) For a movie that is about the sexploits of two wild swingers (Crane and his photographer), there wasn't much sex. Much more time is spent talking about the process of setting of their new-fangled video equipment to record their sessions. Recommendation: If you're REALLY interested in the last 20 years of Bob Crane's life, especially the scandal behind his tragic death, then this one is a must-have. Everybody else will probably find this movie boring. Buy this one cheap (or rent it) because you may never watch it again.
Rating:
Summary: A must see but maybe not a must buy
Review: Mr Schrader is something of an artist/anthropologist/moral conscience of American society. In this instance he unveils one consequence of the objectification of women. Mr Kinnear is brilliantly subtle and sad in his best role thus far including Nurse Betty and As Good As It Gets. Mr Dafoe reaffirms his status as one of America's greatest. Decor, music, contrast between middle america and darker america all superb. Sad but very well made film.
Rating:
Summary: A must see perhaps not a must own
Review: Paul Schrader is something of an anthropologist/artist in the way in which he chronicles American society, especially its obsessions. Pornography is clearly one such obsession. It is presently at such quantity as to beggar the imagination. Such disjunction between appearances, and needs, as Mr Schrader observes, in AUTO FOCUS, is difficult to understand, but may have an explanation in the way in which Western society, perhaps American society especially, has a puritan or Victorian attitude towards it. I understand that in Denmark, which has had a more liberal attitude towards pornography, such liberal attitudes have made its possession passe, associated crime is low, and a much healthier attitude is shown towards women. But back to AUTO FOCUS. Mr Kinnear gives the performance of his career - he was good in AS GOOD AS IT GETS and NURSE BETTY but in this film he provides a nuanced performance of great subtlety and skill. Mr Dafoe is stunning, as usual, almost Dickensian in his characterisation. The mis en scene creates stark contrasts between the BRADY BUNCH life of the fifties in which Hogan and others lived out their existence and the dark world of strip joints. The gradual decline from the heyday of the fifties with boats masquerading as cars and the rise of the home as an entertainment centre, to the point of men sitting alone in a bar, may be a mirror of our own material gain at the expense of the loss of community. It is a sad tale.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent look at a flawed man
Review: Most people familiar with Hollywood lore know the Bob Crane story: "Hogan's Heroes", fame, obsession with sex, over-indulgence, burn-out, mysterious death. "Auto Focus" gives the viewer a comprehensive, if not in-depth, look at Crane's rise and fall. Greg Kinnear gives what I think is his best screen performance to date as the happy-go-lucky sex fiend. Willem Dafoe, as always, plays his creepy video technician friend John Carpenter (NOT the kick-ass director of Halloween and Escape From New York) to perfection. Because, honestly, who else can play the creep better than Dafoe?
The one thing this movie lacked was a closer look at Crane's psyche; we saw what happened. but we never truly know why. There is some voice-over, but it is used sparingly throughout. Perhaps if it had been utilized more in the right places, some questions that weren't answered might have been. All in all, a very well made and acted film.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best Movies of 2002.
Review: A Man by the name of Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear), a successful dee-jay in the early sixties, who has himself a wife (Rita Wilson) and three kids. When he`s about to get himself more successful in his career in the lead role in the hugely popular T.V. Show called:Hogan`s Heroes but his whole life changes, when he meets a man by the name of John Carpenter (Willem Dafoe). John is a Successful Business man, who sells & brings film projectors that, they are ahead of it`s type. Bob explores with John, when they use the film projectors for filming Bob and John having sex with another woman, which is filmed as Home Movies. Bob turns himself into a Sex Addicted Man, while his career after T.V.`s Hogan Heroes is Over, nothing will be the same for his career & his personal life. Directed by Paul Schrader (Blue Collar, Affliction, American Gigolo) made a strong provocative drama that is Based on a True Story. The film`s explores the dark side of Bob Crane, which people or his fans didn`t really know about. Kinnear is absolutely Superb in the film. Dafoe is terrific as Bob`s friend. DVD`s has an terrific anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and an good:Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD has three entertaining, funny and insightful Commentary Tracks by the Director, Producer & Screenwriters and Actors:Kinnear & Dafoe. DVD has a two part Documentary by the unsolved murder of Bob Crane, which he died in the summer of 1978. At times, the film is so difficult to watch and so intense, it`s becomes uncomfortably voyeuristic to watch but the film isn`t for everyone and this is a Masterpiece. The film is Based on the Novel by Robert Graysmith, which the Original Titled of the Book is:The Murder of Bob Crane. Screenwriters Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski (Problem Child 1 & 2, The People Vs Larry Flynt, Man in the Moon) is One of the Film`s Producers. Crane`s real-life son:Bob Crane Jr. appears in a Cameo. Do not miss this terrific film. Written by Micheal Gerbosi. Grade:A.
Rating:
Summary: An impressive but less than definitive look at Crane's life
Review: I have wanted to see this film for some time now. Who didn't love Bob Crane as Col. Hogan on Hogan's Heroes? As a child watching the show in syndication, Crane seemed to be an exceedingly cool and funny actor. As I got into my teens, I learned of Crane's gruesome death and the mystery surrounding it, and I had trouble figuring out how something like that could happen to such a seemingly great guy. More time passed, and I began to hear stories about Crane's lifestyle, activities that I could hardly picture the man taking part in. All of this left me wanting something that could put all the pieces together, to show me the true Bob Crane and place his death in its proper context. Auto Focus attempts to do just that, and I understood that many critics praised the movie. Having now seen it for myself, I have to agree that it is a very impressive film that works on a number of cinematic levels. Does it answer all of my questions about Bob Crane and his death? I don't know. What you get with Auto Focus is one interpretation of the final fourteen years of Crane's life, but who is to say what really took place in Crane's private world. Obviously, the man had some serious issues and flaws, enough to qualify him for the label of sick if not depraved in my book, but this movie seems to push too far, showing us private moments that no one alive today can verify or disprove. Thus, I do not consider Auto Focus a true biographical portrait of Bob Crane, and I worry that it does further damage to a reputation the man himself seriously destroyed on his own. Auto Focus follows Crane's life and career from his disc jockey days in 1964 to his six-year run on Hogan's Heroes to the troubled years then leading up to his death. Initially, he comes across as a clean-cut, sweater-sporting, all-around good family man, but the seeds of doubt and trouble are soon sown in his wife's discovery of pornographic magazines in the garage. As his time on Hogan's Heroes begins, he seems to still be cultivating the image of a "good" man, one who refuses both alcohol and cigarettes. Then of course fame begins to change his life, and the many young women who flock around him let his barely-contained sexual beast out of its cage. His new friendship with video technology guru John Carpenter is the worst thing that could have happened to him, as Carpenter soon gives him the keys to the perverted sexual paradise Crane had obviously fantasized about for some time. Up to this point, Crane had still been salvageable as a decent human being, but his moral weakness soon asserts control and leads Crane into a life of total debauchery that he was shameless enough to document on film and video. When his career bottoms out, the tailspin that would lead to his brutal demise was all too apparent. The cinematography of the latter part of the picture was really effective; unusual, sometimes unstable camera angles and shots reinforced the image of Crane's life falling apart more and more quickly as time passed. John Carpenter was an individual I knew nothing about going into this film. Clearly, he was a rather disgusting individual who held a strong and uncomfortable hold over the rest of Crane's life. This film, in my opinion, goes a little too far in the direction of blaming Carpenter for Crane's mistakes, though. It seems clear that Bob Crane alone is responsible for the way he lived his life; he never did anything more than talk about making a lifestyle change, even after the demise of two marriages, his relationship with his four children, and his total alienation from everyone but Carpenter. The recreation of his murder is good up to a point but could have improved. I do not think the true force and viciousness of the attack as shown matches the actual event, and I have to question why the scene showing his body's discovery by a fellow actress was deleted from the final cut. The movie does implicate one suspect in particular, and I have to question this because, while I think the prime suspect was indeed the murderer, the film's presentation precludes alternate theories of what remains an unsolved mystery. The DVD is excellent; there can be no question about that. Alongside the film itself, you get no less than three separate commentaries, a making-of featurette, five deleted scenes, and a lengthy documentary on the actual murder. Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe are excellent in their roles of Hogan and Carpenter (although I saw much more of both men that I would have liked, if you know what I mean). I was also amazed at how truly Klink-like Kurt Fuller was in his portrayal of Werner Klemperer. In the final analysis, Auto Focus is an impressive motion picture, but at the same time it stands as a questionable biography and dramatization of Bob Crane's life and death.
Rating:
Summary: Horror iced up
Review: The story of how Bob Crane, easy-going, lighthearted average guy actor who was star of a hit tv show ended up dead in Scottsdale from a brutal beating is bound to have a seamy side. Was it a jealous homosexual lover, as some speculated? Or a drug deal gone sour? The truth, as Paul Schrader portrays it, is the story of a man who gives up everything to yield to sexual addiction. The performance of Greg Kinnear as the likeable Crane is excellent, except that he is so surface and superficial, the viewer feels cool towards him and his "hobby." Dafoe of course is the creepy creep, giving an eerily accurate portrait of the man accused and later acquitted of Crane's murder. Schrader's style in this film is less on the horror and shock (as in "Taxi Driver") and more on the descent. But the remoteness and almost clinical shooting of this tale make the story feel a bit remote; I personally didn't feel terribly sorry for the Crane character as presented here. The filming was excellent--Schrader is a master director. The extras, interviews with the Scottsdale police and a discussion of the forensics are as interesting as the film. Well worth a watch, not sure if this is something I'd list as a "must-own."
Rating:
Summary: More of an autobiography than a movie
Review: Entertaining look at the seamy side of a well known star--if you were a fan of the series or interested in stars generally and how they really live, then check it out.
Rating:
Summary: TV Sitcom Star Walks the Wild Side of Life
Review: Based on the book "The Murder of Robert Crane" by Robert Graysmith, "Auto Forcus" describes the life of Bob Crane, popular DJ and actor, best remembered as the star of TV POW sitcom in the 60s. According to the film, he lived a life everybodu would envy -- beautiful wife and loving family, and popularity -- until he starts another kind of life, hidden from them. Greg Kinnear provides his career best performance in this film. He plays the role of Bob Crane, who, after meeting a rep from Sony named John Carpenter (equally great Willem Dafoe), gradually decends into the darker side of life, namely the addiction to sex. Serious or not, they gleefuly say: "A day without sex is a day wasted." It is nothing surprising for us to see his wife (Rita Wilson) suspect that her husband hides something, In fact he hides many embarrasing things you can never show your kids. And it is nothing surprising for us to see Hollywood stars lose their popularity because of their own wrong choices in life and career. Sure, these things happen to Bob, and inevitable ending, too. As far as the material goes, "Auto Focus" gives nothing new or unique. We have seen similar, and probably more shocking stories about celebrities, and there are tons of books written about these seedy aspects of Tinseltown. And the camera of this movie does not explain much about the reason for his addition (if ever he was really addicted as the film suggests). But who can really explain the habits of human being? The strength of the film lies in its mood and performance. As I said before, Greg Kinnear, perfectly cast, gives rivetting acting, which deserves some awards. His precarious relations with his family and his friend Carpenter are convincingly portrayed. Check out the impeccable production design of the film, which recreates the fashions of the 60s and 70s. The decor, clothes, even the slightly faded color of contemporary TV show is perfectly presented with reality. And most of all, it is good to see the dirctor Paul Schrader, after his unimpressive "Forever Mine," is back in good form, who is always deft at showing the males walking the wild side of life. Now he did it again, and whether you like it or not, you have to admit his talent in exploring the dark and concealed territory of life. But of course, you may dislike it, or disbelieve it.
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