With nary a glimmer of self-knowledge, [Crane] becomes more specimen than character -- and Auto Focus remains a chilly, clinical lab report.
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10/25/02
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Auto Focus (2002)
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Reviews Counted:155
Fresh:112
Rotten:43
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Kinnear and Dafoe help make this downward spiral of one man's life a compelling watch.
Theatrical Release:Oct 18, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $1,818,622
Synopsis: AUTO FOCUS is the story of Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear), who was the star of the television series HOGAN'S HEROES in the 1960s. Before he achieved that particular fame, Crane was a popular radio talk... [More]
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello
Director: Paul Schrader
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Reviews for Auto Focus
The movie is well done but the 'ooh ick' factor is pretty high.
10/25/02
A facile, repetitive, tedious movie.
10/24/02
[Schrader] wonderfully captures the flavor of the outrageous late-'60s sexual era, and he gets an Oscar-caliber performance out of Willem Dafoe.
10/24/02
It's a provocative, challenging study in denial and one of its star's and its director's all-time bests.
10/24/02
Top CriticOften as poignant as it is perverse.
10/24/02
Top CriticKinnear gives an amazing performance as the Hogan's Heroes star.
10/24/02
[Kinnear] lacks Crane's cartoonish features, but he manages to capture enough of his mannerisms to create a nearly eerie resemblance to the actor, particularly as Hogan.
10/24/02
Does strongly benefit from its overall smartness and lucidity, and from two very canny, well-thought-out performances by Kinnear and Dafoe.
10/24/02
Top CriticCreepy, authentic and dark.This disturbing bio-pic is hard to forget.
10/24/02
Schrader examines Crane’s decline with unblinking candor.
10/23/02
Everything in the movie rises and falls dismally, with little sense even of waste and loss.
10/23/02
Top CriticKinnear doesn’t aim for our sympathy, but rather delivers a performance of striking skill and depth.
10/23/02
Unless Bob Crane is someone of particular interest to you, this film's impressive performances and adept direction aren't likely to leave a lasting impression.
10/23/02
At times Auto Focus feels so distant you might as well be watching it through a telescope. Yet in its own aloof, unreachable way it's fascinating.
10/23/02
You don't have to know anything about Bob Crane, you don't to have ever watched Hogan's Heroes, and you can still appreciate the skill behind this film.
10/21/02
Top CriticOnly a supremely flexible talent like Kinnear could whittle away at Crane's nuances and come up with thespian gold.
10/21/02
Kinnear and Dafoe deliver chilling yet sympathetic performances that should earn them Oscar nominations.
10/20/02
At once hilarious and chilling, a character study of a self-absorbed man that manages to look beyond its central figure at the landscape around him.
10/19/02
Instead of hitting the audience over the head with a moral, Schrader relies on subtle ironies and visual devices to convey point of view.
10/18/02
Latest News for Auto Focus
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This week's wide releases find us within both a goblet and a burnin' ring of fire. We've got legends, both fantastic ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire") and... More...
May 17, 2005:
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December 09, 2004:
Schrader's Shelved Exorcist Sequel to See Limited Release in '05
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