Auto Focus
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: October 18, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
9
Negative:
2
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It never answers the key question: Why should we care? Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It's a clammy, depressing movie, but not a very illuminating one. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Kinnear's mesmerizing performance comes close to redeeming Auto Focus, suggesting depths the film never gets around to exposing, but Schrader's alternately flat and histrionic storytelling sends the film hurtling beyond redemption. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Auto Focus doesn't really go anywhere, but then neither does any form of obsessive-compulsive behavior -- which may be Schrader's point. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
It grows repetitious, both in its account of Crane's ritual behavior and in clumsily written -- and stolidly directed -- scenes between Crane and Carpenter, two men acting out their own unacknowledged sexual drama.
50
TimeRichard Corliss
Schrader's objectification of sad and stupid material is neither tragic nor transgressive. It is just undramatic and uninvolving. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Auto Focus is a gutless wonder. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Schrader really isn't interested in Crane except as the straw man for his moral lessons about sin and sexuality and the nature of celebrity. Auto Focus is the perfect capper to Crane's career: Even in a movie about himself, he remains minor. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
This film about sex is so joyless, so astonishingly unsexy, it's like watching porn with your grandfather going tsk-tsk-tsk over your shoulder for two hours. Read full review
More From This Movie

66 Critic Reviews

8.4 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL