Autofocus (2002)

Director: Paul Schrader
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello

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I can't understand how Greg Kinnear stays under the radar of so many critics. He did the better acting job than Nicholson in As Good As It Gets, and Nicholson received as Oscar and Kinnear did not. Not that the Academy always awards on merit...
Regardless, Kinnear has gotten stiffed for roles. For every As Good As It Gets or The Gift or Autofocus, there's a Loser or Stuck on You or Godsend. I just don't understand how he doesn't get more good leading roles like the kind he has on Autofocus, a film about the late Bob Crane's--of "Hogan's Heroes" fame--sexual escapades. The film--like any Schrader work whether he's behind the camera or just behind the script--is fantastic. Starting in bold, "Golly gee!", primary colors, the film opens with Bob Crane at the top of his game with a hit radio show and then landing the lead role in what could be a very controversial sitcom: a comedy set in a Nazi POW camp. The show ends up being a hit, of course, and Bob soars to popularity. What goes up...and the film's happy reds, blues, and greens slowly fade to the maroons, golds and sickly pastels of the washed out look of early color television. Once "Hogan's Heroes" gets cancelled in the film, it's a trip through the Inferno of identity crises, divorce, isolation and unfulfilled sexual obsession. The film balances its light and dark tones well though, and every scene is fascinating to watch as long as you don't mind nudity and tense domestic situations.

Sidenote: this film reminds me a lot of Boogie Nights, except that Bob Crane and John Carpenter (no relation to the director...as far as I know) would be Jack Horner's worst nightmare. When Philip Baker Hall talks about video taking the porn market over from film, this is what he's talking about.

July 2
apartment TV, late afternoon/early evening

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