Auto Focus (2002) * * * *

Directed by:  Paul Schrader

Starring:  Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello, Ron Leibman

Bob Crane was bludgeoned to death in 1978 while sleeping in a Scottsdale, Arizona hotel room.    The murder remains officially unsolved, although his friend John Carpenter was tried and acquitted of the crime.    We may never know for sure who killed Bob Crane, the affable star of Hogan's Heroes who led a life that spiraled out of control due to sex addiction.     In the 60s and 70s, sex addiction likely wasn't even thought of as a true addiction.     Crane (Kinnear) thought he was normal and was proudly indiscreet about showing people dozens of photo albums full of his conquests.     What he never grasped was that his addictions ruined his career, two marriages, and may have led to his untimely death.

Auto Focus is a fascinating study of a man who was a slave to his compulsions.     Crane rationalized his behavior by saying "I don't drink.   I don't smoke or do drugs."    All true, but sex was his drug of choice.    He doesn't seem to experience much joy in having sex, but has a compulsive need for it.    He saw nothing unusual about his motto, "A day without sex is a wasted day,"    He found a kindred spirit in Carpenter, who first befriended Crane by selling him new video equipment.     Soon, he and Carpenter became inseparable, booking swinger parties all over LA and then on the road after Hogan's Heroes is cancelled and Crane embarks on a nationwide dinner theater tour.     Their relationship is co-dependent, but there are homosexual undertones as well.     The only outward sign of any affection is when Carpenter felt up Bob's ass during an orgy, which offended Crane but not enough to keep away.     It's noteworthy when Carpenter explains he also has such a friendship with Crane's co-star Richard Dawson.     Crane's response:  "It's either him or me."   What exactly was going on there?

Crane's reputation for swinging cost him jobs with Disney and attempts to resurrect his career after Hogan's Heroes.     His agent (Leibman) warns him against being indiscreet, but Crane sees no issue in his behavior.     Crane sees no problem with he and Carpenter masturbating while playing back videos of their sexcapades.    Early on when Crane was playing drums at a strip club, he seeks out advice from his priest, but isn't very eager to join the priest's band.      By 1978, Crane decides to change his ways and disassociates himself from Carpenter, who behaves like a thrown-over lover.   Did this lead to Crane's death directly?    We will likely never know.    What we do know is someone was angry enough with Bob Crane to murder him in his sleep.

Kinnear is truly effective playing Crane as a likable guy who doesn't want to hurt anybody, but can't help himself.     He lacks insight into his behavior, mostly because few thought that there was any such thing as sex addiction in the 1970s.     But as we witness the joylessness that accompanied his sexcapades, we see that sex became quite a drag for him.     We feel it.     Going from place to place night after night with Carpenter takes its toll on him.     Carpenter, in my opinion, is at least bisexual and is half in love with Crane, but parties with the women because it keeps him close to Crane.    Dafoe is creepily convincing.     We can believe he would be someone who would kill rather than lose his lifestyle, which is troubling and sad.   

The pity is, we see Bob Crane edging closer and closer to a tragic ending.    He could never beat his demons because in his mind he didn't have them.     But they were there, they were real, and they crushed him.