A 2002 American Biopic directed by Paul Schrader of the story of Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear) as he struggles after the end of Hogan's Heroes and his descent into the dark side of Hollywood and forming a friendship with John Henry Carpenter (Willem Dafoe), no relation.
The movie also stars Rita Wilson, Maria Bello, Ron Leibman, Michael E. Rodgers, Kurt Fuller, Ed Begley Jr., Michael McKean, and John Kapelos.
It was released on October 18, 2002.
Tropes for the film:
- Broken Ace: On the surface, Bob seems to have everything: He's effortlessly charismatic and funny, he's rich and famous, he's the star of a huge series, he's beloved by his co-workers, he's happily married with kids and is a pillar of his community. Underneath it all though, he has a serious sex addiction that ends up destroying his life.
- Dinner Theatre: The movie recreates Bob Crane having to do with these kind of theatre roles to make ends meet, after Hogan's Heroes ends.
- Downer Ending: Bob is murdered, leaving behind two ex-wives and kids, and his murder is never solved.
- Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: Crane has to work in dinner theatre after his show ends.
- Fan Disservice: In classic Schrader style, there's a lot of sex, nudity and hedonism but the context makes it hard to enjoy and it only gets worse as the film goes on.
- The Film of the Book: Based on The Murder of Bob Crane by Robert Graysmith.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Bob finally begins to realize how destructive his behavior is and honestly tries to change, starting with limiting his contact with John, but is murdered before he can really improve things and redeem himself.
- Historical Domain Character:
- Bob Crane, main star of Hogan's Heroes who has gone into the dark side of Hollywood and is later murdered.
- John Henry Carpenter, Crane's friend who is also his suspected murderer.
- Karma Houdini: Depending on if you think he really did murder Bob, John Carpenter gets away with it.
- Race Lift: The real John Henry Carpenter was Native American, born in a reservation. The film's Carpenter is played by the white Willem Dafoe, though he still claims to have Native ancestry.
- Shown Their Work: TV's shown during the film were blue & white, which is accurate for this era. Most period films show black & white TV's which are incorrect. Both Willem Defoe and Greg Kinnear wore brown contact lenses to correctly identify with their characters.