Best movie of this year hands down!

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I have not been able to find this movie at any of the local stores. I would sort of like to see what Hollywood is showing regarding the star of Hogan. I have always gotten lots of laughs from the show but sometimes got the feeling Hogan was overdoing it.I go to youtube to get my Hogans fix every once in awhile.When I saw that Maria Bello was playing Hilda (Sigrid Valdis) I was skeptical. I have liked her in everything I have seen of her but to put her in the role of Hilda? Oh boy that is a stretch. Hilda was a healthy, curvy hunk of woman, while Bello is considerably thinner.I found the movie on netflix, so I just have to wait for it to arrive, then I'll come back and edit this review.

Involving and insightful film shows the dark side of actor Bob Crane who played the legendary character, Hogan on Hogan's Heroes, with Kinnear giving a splendid performance, where Dafoe must be highly commended too as his "leech hanger on'er" friend, John Carpenter. The reenactment of the murder and grisly crime scene, isn't exaggerated, either, as having seen the real one. The movie boasts many other great performances, especially from Rita Wilson as Crane's first wife and from his kids, with some others, worth a mention. The movie begins just before Crane was given that once in a lifetime role, and does go quite a bit behind the casting, rehearsal reads, and filming of Hogan's Hero's, which this aspect of the movie, I really enjoyed where it really blended in well with the rest of the movie. The movie centres a lot on Crane's womanizing and cheating, if a little too much, up past his second divorce with the lead actress of the show, which was painfully sad and heavy, for a bit. He was a sex addict, who couldn't contain his urges, and there's a lot of frank nudity in front of the rolling camera, where during his and his friend's John's sexcapades, they would film it. Whether Carpenter, an avid video photographer, killed Crane, one can't really say, although before it, what gave motive, was Crane's sudden rejection of his real only friend. Although the film seems longer than it is, Auto Focus, is engrossing, as is watching the actors who played beside Crane, like Dawson, a homosexual, and enemy to Crane. I honestly thought Kinnear was worthy of Oscar nomination status, here, but there can only be so many for that selected and elite pool. It will be a performance though, that'll never leave you and you'll always remember, especially Kinnear's funny moments. Screenplay by Taxi Driver great, Paul Schrader, director, here too.

Back when Rob Lowe and Tommy Lee were in grade school, Bob Crane was blazing a self-destructive trail with technical help from his friend, John Carpenter. I didn't grow up with the show "Hogan's Heroes" so seeing this film and reading Robert Graysmith's excellent book "Auto Focus: The Murder of Bob Crane" were eye opening experiences. A gadget man to the stars, John insinuated himself into the lives of Bob and others looking into late 60's audio-video equipment. The beginnings of home video are shown innocently through the kids playing in the Crane house. And then diabolically, with big daddy on the town (and all over America), as the obsessive duo travel on the strip joint and dinner theatre circuits, meeting hundreds of willing women who may or may not have been aware of the full extent of their sex partner's camera oriented games.Eventually, even Bob realizes he's gone too far and wants to change the bounds of his enabler's role in his life. And then it gets deathly dark! If you're aware of this film, you know how it ends. What's disturbing is how we get there. Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe are both awesome in their portrayals of Crane and Carpenter. Two shallow men reached the ends of their ropes and we are left with the sick conclusion that Crane's murderer was probably his "only friend".

This film brings us some interesting material on the birth of home video or, more correctly, the point at which professional video started to cross over into home use.We get to see a number of generations of early video equipment being set up and brought into use, most of which operate in monochrome (most colour TV at the time was film-based and colour videotaped material was not the norm).Editing equipment is touched on, but there is relatively little about it: the film concentrates on cameras and recorders.A fascinating glimpse into the technical side of TV/video in the not-too-distant past! Highly recommended for all video technophiles!Oh, and there's some stuff about Bob Crane, too.