Auto Focus | ||||
Paul Schrader Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello, Ron Leibman, Ed Begley Jr., Michael McKean 2002 |
As the subject for a film biography, the late actor Bob Crane seems like an oddity, until the "E! True Hollywood Story" components of his life are unearthed. There's a dump-truck's worth of dirt on Crane in the riveting, episodic biopic "Auto Focus," from Paul Schrader, whose credits include directing "Affliction" and writing "Taxi Driver." In flinty fashion, Schrader reveals the slimy, tortured side of a glib, nice-guy type who got into show biz and experienced a lucky break when he was cast in "Hogan's Heroes," a '60s TV sitcom that became an unlikely hit. Crane's starring role in the show, set in a Nazi prison camp, gave him celebrity cachet. But his glad-handing demeanor hid a darker side, and he used his renown to feed the beast. As Crane, Greg Kinnear ("As Good As It Gets") integrates the man's myriad, conflicted selves: loving husband, sex addict, father, voyeur, charming performer and amateur pornographer. Egged on by his parasitical friend (a disconcertingly sleazy Willem Dafoe), Crane succumbs to compulsions that invite his ruin. With Rita Wilson and Maria Bello as Crane's two wives. | |||
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