Cobb

 

 

Create your own review

Tyrus Raymond Cobb was unbeieveable on the diamond and as we learn in this masterpiece off the diamond as well. This movie cronicals the last few years of Cobb's life from his violent personality to his love on fine and hot women to his fued with his daughter. Tryus hires Al Stupp (played wonderfully by that guy from Arli$) to write a book about him. However, Cobb wants to be remebered as a nice friendly person not the SOB jagbag he really was(I assume he was, I wasn't around to ever see Cobb play, but i was at the Cubs/Sox game on 5/5/98 when Brant Michael Brown hit a homerun in the 12th inning to beat those jabronis on the South SIde 6-5) Anyway Cobb sees that Arli$ is secruetly writting notes about what a Jagbag he is so Cobb goes nuts and nearly kills Arli$.
Cobb does not kill Arli$ but we do see Cobb as he goes crazy on a nurse and guzles pills with booze.
There are some great lines like when Arlis and his jpurnlists buddies are at the bar and they ask each other who was the greatest babeball player that ever lived and they all say: Ty Cobb, except one guy who says Babe Ruth and they give him some Chit, not Sugar.
Also when Cobb is drunk and tired and Mickey Lolich doesnt want to talk to him Cobb tells Arliss "Carry me back to Georgia"
If your looking for a movie that focuses on Cobb's days w/ the Detroit Tugers then this isnt the movie for you, but if your looking beef, nudity, swears, car chases, Rajaah Clemens (F-Houston, Go Cubdom!!), pills, booze, a deer that gets shots and a scene of a mosaleum then this is the movie for you. I was looking for all those things so thats why I loved this movie.
T-Lee does a great job as Tryus Raymond Cobb. The only other person that could have pulled off this role was Ben(jamin) Geza Affleck, but T-Lee is supurb.
Keep in mind that the VHS/DVD covers differ. The VHS has a great shot of Cobb smoking a cigar while the DVD has Cobb playing baseball, personally i like the VHS cover better but there are some good special feautrues.
Rated R for violence, language, nudity and the killing of a deer.
Great movie to buy or obtain through Inter-library loan but you'll want a copy of this dousie.
Thank you T-Lee, Warner Bros. and Cobb
F-Houston, Bob Pulford and the cancalation of the XFL
I have reiceved 94% helpful votes so I am a trustworty source.

Ty Cobb was called "the greatest baseball player of all time" and he enjoyed the spotlight. He was also known as "difficult person" to put it mildly. He drank hard, was prone to violence, insulted everybody, beat his wife, alienated his children, was a racist, beat a man to death and was accused of fixing games. In 1960 he had his biography written by a sportswriter named Al Stump. At the time Al Stump wrote a flattering portrait. Later, Stump wrote another book, telling the "real" story about Cobb. And this 1994 film is based on this second book.

The film is set in 1960 when Cobb, then 72 years old, engages Al Stump to write his biography. Stump's a young sportswriter who's flattered by the assignment. At first he hates the arrogant Cobb, but later finds himself admiring him for his "bigger than life" personality. And so he winds up being Cobb's only friend, traveling with him, drinking with him and playing nursemaid to his wild rages and need for constant medication.

Tommy Lee Jones is cast as Cobb, in a larger-than-life performance that humanizes the aging Cobb in spite of his raging racism and generally obnoxious behavior. Robert Wuhl is cast as Al Stump and his performance is equally good as we see him starting to have sympathy for the aging man. Lolita Davidovich is cast as a Reno cigarette girl who is pursued by both Al Stump and Cobb. She gives a good performance but I think the main reason she's in the film is to liven it up with a bit of flesh. There's also a small role played by Roger Clemens, the real-life pitcher in a scene of a baseball game played around 1916. Wisely, the camera doesn't stay too long on Tommy Lee Jones for this scene because he just can't look like a very young man.

The screenplay was ambitious but it lacked something. It was overlong and tended to be boring. Once the general situation was set, there was just one kind of outrageous behavior after another to prove the point that Cobb was difficult and that Stump was starting to admire the old man. In my opinion, the whole film could have been condensed to a one-hour television movie. As I'm interested in baseball, I did enjoy the film. But it certainly isn't one that I can highly recommend.

To me, this movie is a dark comedy. Ty Cobb is obviously a racist, abusive mean spirited human being who also happens to be a baseball legend. This movie is about Cobb off the field during his last days as he plans an autobiography on his baseball career. Throughout the movie, he is verbally and physically abusive to those around him. Tommy Lee Jones manages to make his character, at times, sympathetic towards the end of the film as he gets sicker and sicker from one of his many illnesses. This does not change the fact that Ty Cobb was a vicious human being and writer/director Ron Shelton writes the character in a way that makes him funny in some ways. I can't imagine this movie being what it is without Tommy Lee Jones. Jones tends to play arogant know-it-all characters in movies and this one tops them all. This movie was not a hit because of limited release(40 theaters instead of the planned 400 according to Shelton's commentary) but it is easily one of the best movies made about baseball and the people who play the game. Without a doubt Tommy Lee Jones' best performance. Worth taking the time to watch despite the wretched character he portrays in the movie.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 19 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

1.0 out of 5 stars How about a movie called...
How about if the film industry makes a movie called 'The Hammer'? Gee, they made 'Cobb, 'The Babe', 'Eight Men Out', 'Field of Dreams', 'The Pride of the Yankees', 'The Natural',... Read more

Published on Jan 27 2004 by Dhaval Vyas

5.0 out of 5 stars Cobb: A man with demons that made him a legend
A must have entertaining DVD. The dark side of Cobb, with a touch of humor. Includes TWO commentary tracks (Director, and Jones and Wuhl), a few deleted scenes, the real Al... Read more

Published on Sep 6 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Baseball's First "Charlie Hustle"
If Ty Cobb were playing today, he would receive the finest counseling and support his team could provide. Because despite his greatness, Cobb was a very sick man. Read more

Published on July 2 2003 by J. Magin

5.0 out of 5 stars Great bio movie!!!
If you like biography or baseball, you'll LOVE this film. Tommy Lee Jones plays a fantastic Ty Cobb. I can watch this over and over!!! EXCELLENT!

Published on April 7 2003 by W. P. Danitz

1.0 out of 5 stars An El Crapola baseball movie
Basically a hatchet job on Cobb; this movie focuses on
a few episodes from the year Cobb spent with writer
Stump composing his autobiography. Read more

Published on Feb 18 2003 by David Apelt

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a well know movie, but worth viewing!
First off I want to say that although this movie revolves around Ty Cobb, it is not only about baseball. Read more

Published on Feb 14 2003 by Mike Harris

5.0 out of 5 stars Very, Very Good
Tommy Lee Jones is incredible as Ty Cobb. The movie is basically the first few pages of Al Stump's biography of Cobb he wrote sometime in the early 90's. Read more

Published on Nov 29 2002 by S. R.

5.0 out of 5 stars The man-Ty Cobb
This is an excellent movie for the baseball lover. Good context as well as very funny!

Published on Oct 8 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars The Georgia Peach
The movie Cobb was both funny and profoundly sad. The car scene with Willie has some of the most hilarious dialogue I have ever heard. The fascination with Mr. Read more

Published on Sep 4 2002 by Joseph O Batyko

5.0 out of 5 stars Response to the critics above
OK, sure there is minimal baseball action in this film, but what you get is great acting and insight into a hall-of-famers mind and some very interesting issues that were... Read more

Published on May 23 2002 by Sherry Arcos

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 19 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!