Cobb (1994)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Ron Shelton

Writers (WGA):

Al Stump (article)
Al Stump (book)

Release Date:

2 December 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Everyone hated this baseball legend. And he loved it.

Plot:

A reporter hired to write the 'official' biography of Ty Cobb discovers just how dark the baseball legend's real story is.

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Detroit Tigers | Based On Article

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Ty Cobb
Robert Wuhl	...	Al Stump
Lolita Davidovich	...	Ramona
Ned Bellamy	...	Ray
Scott Burkholder	...	Jimmy
Allan Malamud	...	Mud
Bill Caplan	...	Bill
Jeff Fellenzer	...	Sportswriter
Doug Krikorian	...	Sportswriter
Gavin Smith	...	Sportsman's Lounge Bartender
Lou Myers	...	Willie
William Utay	...	Jameson
J. Kenneth Campbell	...	William Herschel Cobb
Rhoda Griffis	...	Amanda Chitwood Cobb
Tyler Logan Cobb	...	Young Ty

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language, and for scenes of nudity and violent behavior.

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Philippines:R-18 | Australia:MA | Germany:12 (w) | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Athens, Georgia, USA

Company:

Alcor Films

Trivia:

The fastball to the head Cobb refers to concerning Mickey Cochrane took place at Yankee stadium, and was tossed by Yankees pitcher Bump Hadley.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Cobb is seen being treated by a black nurse at Emory University Hospital shortly before his death. In 1961, Georgia hospitals and their staff were still strictly segregated.

Quotes:

Ramona: Greatness is overrated.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The N Word (2004)

Soundtrack:

March of the Hoodlums

Not a baseball movie, and not appreciated.

Although this film is hardly "about" baseball, it has been classified by some as a "baseball movie," a category in which it does not belong and in which it could certainly be disappointing.

Like Al Stump's book on which it was based, Cobb is a biographical film, an exploration of a twisted mind, one that happened to belong to one of history's great ballplayers.

Cobb is the archetype villain, and viewers will hate him appropriately. The portrayal of Cobb is truly villainous, and the distaste viewers will feel for the character is genuine. There are few things more compelling, at least to me, than a truly genuine villainous character.

Tommy Lee Jones shines as the aged Cobb, somehow turning this wretched man into an aging, dying sympathetic character, desperately clinging to anyone and anything he can. Robert Wuhl's performance is dry and mostly lifeless, as has become commonplace with him.

The baseball fan with a sense of historical appreciation will not be disappointed, as the dialogue is sharp and sprinkled with little baseball morsels among Stump's narrative about the foul man's nature and demeanor. Others will (or should) appreciate the tale of the final days of Ty Cobb just for the opportunity to despise the twisted old man.

Anyone out to see "a baseball movie" should expect to be disappointed by this film. Anyone with a true appreciation for Ty Cobb, baseball, history or psychology in general should appreciate this unique film as it is - an excellent tale with a superlative central character and wonderful insight.