Soft Focus

As a general rule of thumb it's best to avoid Paul Schrader-directed films that he hasn't scripted himself, but his latest effort, Auto-Focus, a warped biopic of the lust-crazed rise and fall of Hogans Heroes star Bob Crane proves a compelling exception to that rule.

Comedian Greg Kinnear, whose career thus far has barely scratched my radar screen, finds his signature role to date as Crane, a disc jockey and self-professed 'likeable guy' who hits the big time with the Bilko-inspired 'Hogan's Heroes'.

Things start to go awry when he buddies up with John (Carps) Carpenter (played by Schrader regular Willem Dafoe) an early prototype engineer for Sony. Together they embark on a joint odyssey of group sex and videotaped voyeurism which ultimately ends with Crane's demise on the wrong end of a tripod in the middle of the night.

Considering the sleaziness of the material it's handled in a uncharacteristically discreet manner by Schrader, with (aside one montage sequence of topless shots accompanying Crane's monologue which concludes 'tits are great') explicit sex and nudity kept to a minimum.

However, given that the female characters in the film (be they Crane's wives or lovers) are presented as little more than cyphers this isn't exactly the most rounded film around but then its subjects are not exactly the most rounded guys.

Ultimately the one relationship in Crane's life that endures is the only truly mutually dependent one he finds - with the vaguely pathetic and possibly bisexual Carps, who supplies the technology and camaradie in return for opportunities for sex he could never otherwise hope for thanks to Crane's celebrity status.

There are those that have rather uncharitably chided Dafoe for overacting in his role as Carps. It's certainly a larger-than-life interpretation (similar to his cameo in 'Existenz' but with an added dash of vulnerability) but for me the film is always funnier and more entertaining when he's on screen.

Indeed, one of my favourite moments in the film is when he sidles up to a hot babe in a bar and asks whether she knows what time it is. She demurs, so he points to his watch which displays a crude digital animation of two people getting it on and declares 'IT'S FUCKTIME!!!'

Well, I laughed anyway (you'll have to watch the film to see if the line worked). How you react to the film may depend on your views on bad lads, big boobs and retro video technology. Needless to say, I loved it.