Auto Focus ««««
R, 105m. 2002
Cast & Credits: Greg Kinnear (Bob Crane), Willem Dafoe (John Carpenter), Rita Wilson (Anne Crane), Maria Bello (Patricia Olson/Patrica Crane/Sigrid Valdis), Ron Leibman (Lenny), Bruce Solomon (Edward H. Feldman), Michael E. Rodgers (Richard Dawson), Kurt Fuller (Werner Klemperer), Christopher Neiman (Robert Clary), Lyle Kanouse (John Banner), Donnamarie Recco (Melissa/Mistress Victoria), Ed Begley Jr. (Mel Rosen), Michael McKean (Video Executive). Focus Features presents a film directed by Paul Schrader. Screenplay written by Michael Gerbosi based on the book, The Murder of Bob Crane, by Robert Graysmith.
“I’m a likable guy.”
So says actor Bob Crane; as played by Greg Kinnear ("Sabrina" - 1995), in the opening moments of "Auto Focus"; director Paul Schrader’s luridly, grim depressing look at the television star’s personal life that may have led to his grisly murder in an Arizona motel in 1978.
The “likable guy” persona Kinnear’s Bob Crane projects are what ultimately won me over despite the character’s voracious sexual appetite for women that ultimately takes a toll on both his personal and professional life.
The real-life Crane, up until his death, reportedly made home videos of himself having sex with the women he and his gifted video/sound technician, John “Carpy” Carpenter, picked up at a number of topless dance clubs in the mid ‘60s and ‘70s. The two met on the set of "Hogan’s Heroes" (1965-1971); Crane’s first and only hit television show.
“Carpy”, as Kinnear’s Crane likes to call him, is played by Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man - 2002); who once again shows us how good he is at playing sleazily attractive villains. Seeing the two together throughout the film, I could call them, “The Odd Couple”, or, to be even more precise, the sick perverted couple.
I found it amazing that after all the information screenwriter Michael Girbosi provides us about the Carpenter character he is still a mystery or enigma. In real life, Carpenter was fingered as the prime suspect in Crane’s death. He was finally going to stand trial for the actor’s murder when he died in 1998. Auto Focus points no fingers and makes no assumptions as to who committed the crime and leaves the case as it still stands today, unsolved.
At worst, Dafoe’s “Carpy” is the devil incarnate; a smilingly rich money making voyeur always seen with an alcoholic beverage in one hand and an innovative new piece of video technology in the other. He is always ready to shoot both his and Crane’s latest sexual escapade to add to their private home video libraries.
Their motto is “A day without sex is a day wasted.”
From the beginning, Kinnear portrays Crane as a man we would probably love to get to know. Perhaps even invite him and his family over for dinner. He is an every-man who sports the nice clean cut clothes, lives in an upscale home and raises three kids with his first wife, Anne (Rita Wilson). While working as a disc jockey in California waiting for a big acting gig he hopes will make him the next Jack Lemmon.
Hard to believe this man who attended Sunday mass and reportedly a devout Catholic was also the same person who kept graphic pornographic magazines in the garage hidden from his wife.
“I’m a photographer,” he tells Anne of his reason for having them.
"Auto Focus" is adapted from author Robert Graysmith’s book, “The Murder of Bob Crane. ”Director Schrader and screenwriter Gerbosi provide a no-holds-barred look at the self-destructive way the star ran his life. Neither Schrader nor Gerbosi offer any excuses for the character’s behavior. Neither for that matter, does Kinnear’s Crane, who throughout the film, tells everyone from his family to his agent (Ron Liebman) that what he does is “normal.” Not once does he ever apologize. He is just as bad as the ones addicted to drugs, alcohol, or food who repeatedly admit they don’t have a problem.
Most people will likely look at this guy who had everything and went from being a TV icon and American hero to suggesting to Carpenter that the two go into business shooting pornographic movies makes for a compelling portrait of a real loser. Is Crane pathetic? Yes. The actor’s downfall, however, is more than that. It’s sad. I really couldn’t help but feel just a shred of sympathy for him.
The most heart wrenching scene is when the star, reduced to making an appearance on a cooking show, comments live about how large a woman’s breasts are who is sitting in the front row. Crane is a modern day Dr. Jekyll who can no longer keep his Mr. Hyde in check. By the end, even the smile is gone.
“You’re the only friend I’ve got,” he tells Carpenter.
This all boils down to the question how should we remember the star of Hogan’s Heroes; a question the press often asked members of Crane’s family since his untimely death.
Perhaps the most honest thing that can be said about him after watching Auto Focus is that Bob Crane was a fatalistically flawed human being whose inner demons tragically landed him in with the wrong Hollywood crowd.
©11/13/02
Cast & Credits: Greg Kinnear (Bob Crane), Willem Dafoe (John Carpenter), Rita Wilson (Anne Crane), Maria Bello (Patricia Olson/Patrica Crane/Sigrid Valdis), Ron Leibman (Lenny), Bruce Solomon (Edward H. Feldman), Michael E. Rodgers (Richard Dawson), Kurt Fuller (Werner Klemperer), Christopher Neiman (Robert Clary), Lyle Kanouse (John Banner), Donnamarie Recco (Melissa/Mistress Victoria), Ed Begley Jr. (Mel Rosen), Michael McKean (Video Executive). Focus Features presents a film directed by Paul Schrader. Screenplay written by Michael Gerbosi based on the book, The Murder of Bob Crane, by Robert Graysmith.
So says actor Bob Crane; as played by Greg Kinnear ("Sabrina" - 1995), in the opening moments of "Auto Focus"; director Paul Schrader’s luridly, grim depressing look at the television star’s personal life that may have led to his grisly murder in an Arizona motel in 1978.
The “likable guy” persona Kinnear’s Bob Crane projects are what ultimately won me over despite the character’s voracious sexual appetite for women that ultimately takes a toll on both his personal and professional life.
The real-life Crane, up until his death, reportedly made home videos of himself having sex with the women he and his gifted video/sound technician, John “Carpy” Carpenter, picked up at a number of topless dance clubs in the mid ‘60s and ‘70s. The two met on the set of "Hogan’s Heroes" (1965-1971); Crane’s first and only hit television show.
“Carpy”, as Kinnear’s Crane likes to call him, is played by Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man - 2002); who once again shows us how good he is at playing sleazily attractive villains. Seeing the two together throughout the film, I could call them, “The Odd Couple”, or, to be even more precise, the sick perverted couple.
I found it amazing that after all the information screenwriter Michael Girbosi provides us about the Carpenter character he is still a mystery or enigma. In real life, Carpenter was fingered as the prime suspect in Crane’s death. He was finally going to stand trial for the actor’s murder when he died in 1998. Auto Focus points no fingers and makes no assumptions as to who committed the crime and leaves the case as it still stands today, unsolved.
At worst, Dafoe’s “Carpy” is the devil incarnate; a smilingly rich money making voyeur always seen with an alcoholic beverage in one hand and an innovative new piece of video technology in the other. He is always ready to shoot both his and Crane’s latest sexual escapade to add to their private home video libraries.
Their motto is “A day without sex is a day wasted.”
From the beginning, Kinnear portrays Crane as a man we would probably love to get to know. Perhaps even invite him and his family over for dinner. He is an every-man who sports the nice clean cut clothes, lives in an upscale home and raises three kids with his first wife, Anne (Rita Wilson). While working as a disc jockey in California waiting for a big acting gig he hopes will make him the next Jack Lemmon.
Hard to believe this man who attended Sunday mass and reportedly a devout Catholic was also the same person who kept graphic pornographic magazines in the garage hidden from his wife.
“I’m a photographer,” he tells Anne of his reason for having them.
"Auto Focus" is adapted from author Robert Graysmith’s book, “The Murder of Bob Crane. ”Director Schrader and screenwriter Gerbosi provide a no-holds-barred look at the self-destructive way the star ran his life. Neither Schrader nor Gerbosi offer any excuses for the character’s behavior. Neither for that matter, does Kinnear’s Crane, who throughout the film, tells everyone from his family to his agent (Ron Liebman) that what he does is “normal.” Not once does he ever apologize. He is just as bad as the ones addicted to drugs, alcohol, or food who repeatedly admit they don’t have a problem.
Most people will likely look at this guy who had everything and went from being a TV icon and American hero to suggesting to Carpenter that the two go into business shooting pornographic movies makes for a compelling portrait of a real loser. Is Crane pathetic? Yes. The actor’s downfall, however, is more than that. It’s sad. I really couldn’t help but feel just a shred of sympathy for him.
The most heart wrenching scene is when the star, reduced to making an appearance on a cooking show, comments live about how large a woman’s breasts are who is sitting in the front row. Crane is a modern day Dr. Jekyll who can no longer keep his Mr. Hyde in check. By the end, even the smile is gone.
“You’re the only friend I’ve got,” he tells Carpenter.
This all boils down to the question how should we remember the star of Hogan’s Heroes; a question the press often asked members of Crane’s family since his untimely death.
Perhaps the most honest thing that can be said about him after watching Auto Focus is that Bob Crane was a fatalistically flawed human being whose inner demons tragically landed him in with the wrong Hollywood crowd.
©11/13/02
No comments:
Post a Comment