1. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
2. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
3. Shutter Island
4. In the Mood for Love
5. Clerks
6. Festen (The Celebration)
7. A Single Man
8. Magnolia
9. Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 (tie)
10. The Vanishing (1988)
11. Suspiria
12. THX 1138
13. Girl 27
14. Nil by Mouth
15. The Virgin Suicides
16. American Splendor
17. The Thin Blue Line (1988 – Errol Morris)
18. The Machinist
19. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
20. Auto Focus
21. Brick
22. The Things We Carry (2009)
23. Moon
24. In Bruges
25. Hot Tub Time Machine

With that being said, Auto Focus is indeed a tale of a double life, but this is based on fact. Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear), beloved actor and title character of the television show Hogan’s Heroes, is a husband to his high school sweetheart and father of three children. By night, he is a sex addict. Instead of him developing this addiction from scratch, it is introduced to the audience that his need for sex has been around for quite some time whether it be the act itself or being in a provocative environment such as a strip club or topless bar. Sans the physicality, how Crane (or rather Kinnear) carries himself in these situations is in my opinion the most fascinating part of his character. Predominantly, his voice and mannerisms seem completely opposite of his actions. At one point, he’s saying fatherly to a woman to smile and lift her shirt up to expose her breasts for a photograph. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be in shock;  he said it as if he were asking his son to read a bedtime story to him as they have practiced.

Another interesting piece of the story was Crane’s  friend who took part in his double life, John Henry Carpenter (Willem Dafoe). Almost reminiscent of a book or film’s imaginary/alter ego character, Carpenter rarely makes an appearance in Crane’s “other life” and stands as his constant “devil on the shoulder.” Dafoe is fantastic as Crane’s negative influence and is essentially everything Crane’s not. While Crane has a sweet voice, Carpenter’s is, well, Dafoe — raspy, dark, and given the circumstances, seductive. While Crane keeps a straight edge, clean-cut look, Dafoe’s disheveled.

The film as a whole is well done. I did find there were a couple of details that needed further clarification. The first detail is the depiction of Crane’s sexual addiction. It is understood that films are capable of exaggerating the truth, but in this case I feel the extent of Crane’s addiction was watered-down. But in terms of the story, I guess my complaint would be is that the reason why Crane’s second wife filed for divorce, or was it his extended absence? It was understood given their initial meeting that she “gets him,” so why is she changing her mind at this point? I did read that the jacket worn by Kinnear while “filming” Hogan’s Heroes was in fact Crane’s actual jacket from the show, which was loaned out by his son for the film. Another detail that I felt  needed to be explained more, and essentially was on my mind the rest of the film after its presence was the initials “F.B.I.” engraved on Carpenter’s car. Researching information from that time and finding nothing to my knowledge on whether Dafoe’s character saying it stands for “Full Blooded Indian” or the FBI itself is almost distressing even though it’s so tedious.

In all, Auto Focus is indeed underrated and should have been given more recognition based on the film’s darkness, Kinnear’s performance, and the overall grittiness that overcast the clean-cut era. I would recommend this film to anyone interested in biopics, the late Bob Crane, coping with addiction, the 1960s era, or just a well-made film.

Grade: B+

I’m still here, just really busy. I managed to see the “most-talked” about movie of the week, The Social Network, and wrote my review for it on Examiner.com. I invite you to read and comment on the link here. Enjoy!