Given its lurid subject matter, the film is astoundingly bland.
Comment
10/15/03
Auto Focus (2002)
72
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
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.
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Dramas
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
Reviews for Auto Focus
Crane's story is a modern Hollywood tragedy, and Schrader and Kinnear treat it with the utmost respect, creating a film that is both touching and bittersweet.
09/06/03
..interesting for the way it reveals what the advent of the videotape in the '70s has done to all of us. Like the Internet in the '90s, it has helped make what's private public – for better or worse.
07/29/03
Click to read the article
07/19/03
Top CriticClick to read the article
07/07/03
Top CriticAuto Focus is a tense and gripping film, filled with surprises and overt contradictions of the human condition. It’s also a terrifying look at a man who loses his sense of himself and is caught in his own net of deceit as he self destructs.
07/01/03
Schrader weaves American sexual mores, advances in video technology, dangerous impulses and awareness of self into one compelling thread. The movie has a precise vision — funny, sad and profound all at once.
06/26/03
Click to read the article
05/16/03
It's a compelling watch, but moves no further than being an exploratory film about Crane's demise due to his sex addiction.
04/07/03
Even if you’ve never watched an episode of Hogan’s Heroes, Auto Focus is worth a spin in your DVD player.
03/21/03
Click to read the article
03/17/03
Top CriticMore like a peep show than a character study.
02/23/03
The one character trait given to Bob Crane in the movie is that he's likable. Paul Schrader has made a movie that isn't--everything about it is out of focus.
01/16/03
Schrader really isn't interested in Crane except as the straw man for his moral lessons about sin and sexuality and the nature of celebrity.
01/16/03
Crane, a lecher sporting a cardigan grin, was a bore, and so is much of the movie Schrader has made about him.
01/08/03
Along with director Paul Schrader ... Kinnear turns what could have been an exploitative, big-screen True Hollywood Story into a fascinating and compassionate portrait of an addictive personality.
12/02/02
offers a step-by-step course in how to transform yourself from church-going family man to professional sex addict; instead of being your average 12-step program, this personality overhaul takes Crane approximately 12 years to complete.
11/25/02
It's funny in a filmmaker with a moralistic bent born of a strict religious background, but just as God is said to 'love the sinner, but hate the sin,' Schrader seems more to fixate on the sin and to say to hell with the sinner.
11/20/02
A distant, even sterile, yet compulsively watchable look at the sordid life of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane.
11/20/02
A hilarious and harrowing portrait of addiction and self-annihilation.
11/19/02
Latest News for Auto Focus
November 17, 2005:
Critical Consensus: "Harry Potter," "Walk the Line" Both Certified Fre
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:
Trailer Bulletin: "A History of Violence"
Thanks to the official Cannes Film Festival website for posting the all-new trailer for David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence." The New Line Cinema release, which... More...
December 09, 2004:
Schrader's Shelved Exorcist Sequel to See Limited Release in '05
Moviehole chimes in with an exclusive scoop update on Paul Schrader's version of "Exorcist: The Beginning": "Why isn't Paul Schrader's cut of "The Exorcist:... More...
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