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Movie Overview
Cast
• Greg Kinnear
• Willem Dafoe
• Rita Wilson
Director
• Paul Schrader
MPAA Rating
R - strong sexuality, nudity, language, some drug use, and violence
Auto Focus (2002)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS OTHER
OFCS Rating: 77% Fresh
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"Morality takes a beating in 'Auto Focus,' a film more suitable for stag parties than for multiplexes."  ReelTalk Movie Reviews  Betty Jo Tucker

2.5/4
"Once the downward spiral comes to pass, Auto Focus bears out as your typical junkie opera..."  Film Freak Central  Bill Chambers

B+
"Instead of hitting the audience over the head with a moral, Schrader relies on subtle ironies and visual devices to convey point of view."  AboutFilm.com  Carlo Cavagna

2.5/5
"All told, it's worth a peek for Kinnear's bravery, but let's be honest, that Anna Nicole show is just as unsettling."  Filmcritic.com  Christopher Null

2.5/4
"Auto Focus is very well done all around, from the direction to the acting, but it never quite becomes the superb piece of work it wants to be."  Reel Film Reviews  David Nusair

"...disquieting but overly preachy."  Portland Tribune  Dawn Taylor

B-
"It's a compelling watch, but moves no further than being an exploratory film about Crane's demise due to his sex addiction."  Ozus' World Movie Reviews  Dennis Schwartz

3/4
"The clever script takes jabs at wholesome television and deftly questions measures of success (for Crane, Paul Lynde's Hollywood Square was a step up after "Hogan's Heroes")."  Slant Magazine  Ed Gonzalez

3.5/4
"A biopic about Crane’s life in the classic tradition but evolves into what has become of us all in the era of video."  eFilmCritic.com  Erik Childress

C
"A facile, repetitive, tedious movie."  Film Blather  Eugene Novikov

2.5/4
"Auto Focus is a revealing albeit uneven biopic about one man's quiet depravity and the concoction of temptation that fueled his quest for compulsive, risque pleasures."  Movie Eye  Frank Ochieng

B-
"A creepy, intermittently powerful study of a self-destructive man...about as unsettling to watch as an exploratory medical procedure or an autopsy."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

"Greg Kinnear gives a mesmerizing performance as a full-fledged sex addict who is in complete denial about his obsessive behavior."  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

3/4
"A compelling motion picture that illustrates an American tragedy."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

3.5/4
"Paul Schrader's films have a great sense of tragedy, and this comes through with particular strength in Auto Focus."  Q Network Film Desk  James Kendrick

4/5
"Sordid, surreal tale of "Hogan's Heroes" star Bob Crane's rise and fall grabs you tight like a clammy handshake and doesn't let go."  Netflix  James Rocchi

3.5/4
"Only a supremely flexible talent like Kinnear could whittle away at Crane's nuances and come up with thespian gold."  Palo Alto Weekly  Jeanne Aufmuth

3/4
"If [it] fails to be the truly great statement that it obviously yearns to be, it can't be faulted much for trying, since most of its failures on that account arise from its desire to remain honest about its subject's limitations."  MovieMartyr.com  Jeremy Heilman

6.5/10
"Hypnotically compelling in a car crash sort of fashion where one can't look away from the wreckage."  Screen It!  Jim Judy

"Schrader and writer Gerbosi aren't concerned with who did it, rather how someone like Crane could end up so badly."  Light Views  John Larsen

6/10
"I get about 30 e-mail messages every day trying to sell me services quite similar to what Crane did back in the early days of home video, which might be the reason why Focus fell disappointingly flat."  Planet Sick-Boy  Jon Popick

B
""Auto Focus" works as an unusual biopic and document of male swingers in the Playboy era"  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

4/5
"Kinnear's performance ... is flawless."  Goatdog's Movies  Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

1.5/5
"Mayonnaise-bland biopic, with a woefully miscast Greg Kinnear in a performance that is so dull that the kitschy sets and costumes constantly upstage him."  Film Threat  Phil Hall

B+
"[It turns] another Behind the Music sob story into a unique parable of life in front of the camera."  Flipside Movie Emporium  Rob Vaux

C
"More like a peep show than a character study."  Laramie Movie Scope  Robert Roten

B
"Schrader examines Crane’s decline with unblinking candor."  Reeling Reviews  Robin Clifford

C+
"Translates into a mediocre episode of E!’s True Hollywood Story with more nudity."  Eclipse Magazine  Sean O'Connell

"[Kinnear's] performance has to be one of the most sympathetic acts of decency one actor has ever extended to another."  Salon.com  Stephanie Zacharek

6/10
"Despite excellent performances, this sordid story of the rise and decline of a modestly talented actor elicits little sympathy. It's a tawdry, turgid saga of self-destruction that leaves an aftertaste of profound sadness."  rec.arts.movies.reviews  Susan Granger

"Click here to see review"  Wolf Entertainment Guide  William Wolf

C+
Read review  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

7/10
Read review  JoBlo's Movie Emporium  JoBlo

3.5/4
Read review  Big Picture Big Sound  Joe Lozito

6/10
Read review  rec.arts.movies.reviews  Mark R. Leeper

Read review  Nitrate Online  Cynthia Fuchs

Read review  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline
OFCS Rating: 77% Fresh
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