Greg Kinnear plays Bob Crane, the star of the TV series "Hogan's Heroes". It follows his life from 1964 (when "Hogan's" started) to his murder in 1978. It chronicles his friendship with sleazy John Carpenter (Willem Dafoe) and his obsession with photographing nude women and having sex.
The story starts off all sunny and bright with him being a very nice guy--he has a wife, kids and a house in the suburbs. Then he gets the TV series, meets Carpenter and slowly gets obsessed with sex and photography. Here's where the film made a real error for me--it's never explained where this sudden craving came from. It's suggested that Carpenter had something to do with it, but that's about it. It's not Kinnear's fault--his performance is great (even if he doesn't look a thing like Crane)--it's the script's fault. And the movie gets more and more depressing as Crane's marriages fall apart, his career crumbles and he can't stop himself. Also the movie changes--the film stock changes to video, the color fades, the camerawork gets jumpy...all adding to the downbeat feel. Basically, this is a very bleak look at the life of a man who let his obsession kill him. Also, if you're looking for any insights on to who killed Bob Crane forget it. The murder is still unsolved and the movie just shows a shadowy figure committing it.
The acting is good--Kinnear is just great--it's really good to see him stop doing those lame romantic comedies and taking a chance. Dafoe is, as usual, excellent. Also Rita Wilson, Maria Bello and Rob Liebman are very good.
This was a huge box office disaster when it came out (it's easy to see why) but it's not a bad movie. Worth a look...but it's grim.
The story starts off all sunny and bright with him being a very nice guy--he has a wife, kids and a house in the suburbs. Then he gets the TV series, meets Carpenter and slowly gets obsessed with sex and photography. Here's where the film made a real error for me--it's never explained where this sudden craving came from. It's suggested that Carpenter had something to do with it, but that's about it. It's not Kinnear's fault--his performance is great (even if he doesn't look a thing like Crane)--it's the script's fault. And the movie gets more and more depressing as Crane's marriages fall apart, his career crumbles and he can't stop himself. Also the movie changes--the film stock changes to video, the color fades, the camerawork gets jumpy...all adding to the downbeat feel. Basically, this is a very bleak look at the life of a man who let his obsession kill him. Also, if you're looking for any insights on to who killed Bob Crane forget it. The murder is still unsolved and the movie just shows a shadowy figure committing it.
The acting is good--Kinnear is just great--it's really good to see him stop doing those lame romantic comedies and taking a chance. Dafoe is, as usual, excellent. Also Rita Wilson, Maria Bello and Rob Liebman are very good.
This was a huge box office disaster when it came out (it's easy to see why) but it's not a bad movie. Worth a look...but it's grim.