"Auto Focus" seems like a misnomer when you realize that everything about the downward spiral of Bob Crane, the star of the 60’s sitcom, "Hogan’s Heroes," into the quagmire of sex addiction is anything but focussed.

Any story about a guy who has as much going for him as Bob Crane did and who would allow his success and the love of his family slide down the drain for purely prurient reasons should have made for a fascinating movie. Unfortunately, the events in director Paul Schrader’s movie about Crane’s life unfold at arm’s length. They never really engage the emotions enough to make you care what happens to him one way or the other. "Auto Focus" follows Crane from his halcyon days as a musician and comedic personality on radio through his star turn on "Hogan’s Heroes" to his untimely death at the hands of an intruder, presumed to be his best friend. At best "Auto Focus" has a few fine performances that stand out like diamonds in the rough.

Greg Kinnear has finally been given a chance to transcend his screen persona. He uses his easy going charm as a starting point before he dives into the maelstrom brewing behind the facade of Crane’s own cheery disposition. Greg’s Crane sees himself as the consummate family man with a healthy outlook on sex, who is unable to see beyond the veil of his own self deceit. Willem Dafoe is at his creepy best as John Carpenter, a sleazy successful Sony salesman who introduces Crane to the wonders of a VTR (a reel to reel videotape recorder), the home VCR of its day. Under his tutelage, Crane’s obsession with pornography goes from print to the new electronic medium. They cast themselves as the stars of their own home porno videos, then critique their sexual exploits as if they were training for the Olympics. Soon Crane’s obsessive fantasies impinge upon his success with Hogan’s Heroes and more importantly, his family. A controlled paranoia sets in and Greg Kinnear turns Crane’s affability inside out to reveal his blistered psyche.

When Carpenter’s career with Sony is made obsolete with the advent of more consumer friendly products, he grabs a hold of Crane’s rising star in "Hogan’s Heroes" and slowly picks at Cranes psychic wounds until both are left with nothing but each other. This doomed friendship becomes one more part of the divisive wedge that separates Crane from his family. Rita Wilson is a subdued wonder as the good Catholic wife who tries everything from therapy to the bull sessions with the parish priest to salvage her marriage. Maria Bello, likewise, exhibits the same heartbreak as Crane’s second wife, and TV co-star who professes to understand his needs but fails to understand the consequences of his obsession.

Paul Schrader and writer Michael Gerbosi go from one scene to the next linking one consequence to the next without really addressing the root cause of these consequences. If anything, "Auto Focus" shows just how empty one’s sex life can be when it is devoid of human emotion and man’s most basic need - to be loved.

Copyright 2002

Some of Paul Schrader’s own obsessions can be seen in these films.

"Hardcore" (1979) - George C. Scott goes in search of his missing daughter in the netherworld of the porn industry. Not for all tastes but, like Kinnear in "Auto Foucs," Scott is simply amazing in his transformation from a mild mannered Midwesterner to maniacal avenger.

"American Gigolo" (1980) - Richard Gere is the title character who beds the rich and infamous and gets involved in a murder. Not well received but Gere’s charisma sold the movie.

"Blue Collar" (1978) - Harvey Keitel, Richard Pryor and Yaphet Kotto are three buddies in the auto industry who try to rip off the company only to discover that their union is as corrupt as their bosses. The FBI puts on the heat and its every man for himself. This one is powerful in every sense of the word.