I've liked the TV show
Hogan's Heroes since I was a kid. When Bob Crane was found dead in 1978, add to that he was murdered, I was blown away. This guy was Col. Hogan! What do you mean he was a sex fiend?!?! I was initially very hesitant to see
Auto Focus because I wanted to keep some of my childhood memories what they were. As most biopics seem to do,
Auto Focus embellishes the facts a bit, but the majority of the story seems to be intact. During his rise to popularity, actor Bob Crane meets photographer/videographer John Carpenter (not the cult horror director), and the two embark on a tumultuous relationship. Eventually, and tragically, the two begin to delve into the world of, shall we say, "unorthodox" sexual escapades. It gets, as most vices and addictions do, completely out of control, causing enormous rifts in the friends' relationships as well as Crane's marriage. The whole thing comes to a tragic head, and the story ends. It's weird, but the movie never seems to take a stand on any kind of morality, good or bad. It just kind of tells its story and that's it.
Greg Kinnear plays Bob Crane, coming off at once as both very likeable and unbelievably depraved. Yet another great performance from Kinnear. Willem Dafoe is the completely reprehensible Carpenter. This is the kind of role that a lot of actors will avoid for fear of being typecast, but Dafoe is unafraid here.
I am still unsure if I liked this, but it is a pretty well done movie. I will probably not watch this again, just because of my personal memories, but it's worth seeing, if just for the background info on Crane and Carpenter's relationship. 6.75/10.
See you tomorrow, and GO WATCH A MOVIE!!
For the record, this film is a very inaccurate representation of Bob Crane. Not to criticize Greg Kinnear as an actor, who I like very much in his other roles, but this film never should have been made. It has taken 49 years of a man's life and crammed it all into 90 minutes, focusing mostly on the negative. I have gotten to know Bob Crane very well through his close personal friends and colleagues, and while Crane did have troubles, he was not the sad, pathetic individual portrayed in this film. Further, he was trying to overcome his addiction at the time of his death and he was on the brink of starting his life over. I am currently campaigning for Bob Crane's induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame on behalf of his friends, family, and colleagues, and in so doing, highlighting the good he did during his life - so much of which has been forgotten or overlooked. Please visit http://vote4bobcrane.blogspot.com/ for more information.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight, I appreciate it. I am too young to remember anything but Hogan unfortunately, but I did like him as an actor in the role. I stand by that it was a well crafted film, content and historical inaccuracies aside. Most biopics are complete gloss jobs, and this one struck me as such, but to be fair, even the good ones take "...years of a man's life and cram it all into 90 minutes."
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