Fifteen years before "Auto Focus" was a parallel film about Brit Playwright Joe Orton, his climb to fame, secret life, and subsequent demise at the hand of his close friend, Kenneth Halliwell.
In "Auto Focus" it's sometime-lead, often second-tier-actor Bob Crane, who's revealed to live a clandestine style during his rise to the top, and his ultimate end--with the implication of his close friend John Carpenter.
Whereas the earlier effort enjoyed superior direction by Stephen Frears, the latter is quite earthbound at the hand of Paul Schrader.
The quality of the photography of "Auto Focus" looks a bit like its title. Just place the dial there, point and shoot. Results: quite ordinary, like made with discount equipment picked up at a local video camera store.
The cast, however, is quite up to the project, with William Dafoe and especially Greg Kinnear rendering solid performances.
The question is, how does one make a remarkable film about rather routine talent and career? With a more expansive script elevating to the philosophical and spiritual, a more significant product might have emerged. As it is, this is a decent presentation about the consequences of excess and addition that makes its points through a good cast.
In "Auto Focus" it's sometime-lead, often second-tier-actor Bob Crane, who's revealed to live a clandestine style during his rise to the top, and his ultimate end--with the implication of his close friend John Carpenter.
Whereas the earlier effort enjoyed superior direction by Stephen Frears, the latter is quite earthbound at the hand of Paul Schrader.
The quality of the photography of "Auto Focus" looks a bit like its title. Just place the dial there, point and shoot. Results: quite ordinary, like made with discount equipment picked up at a local video camera store.
The cast, however, is quite up to the project, with William Dafoe and especially Greg Kinnear rendering solid performances.
The question is, how does one make a remarkable film about rather routine talent and career? With a more expansive script elevating to the philosophical and spiritual, a more significant product might have emerged. As it is, this is a decent presentation about the consequences of excess and addition that makes its points through a good cast.