Before Ty Cobb, the meanest major leaguer would be Cap Anson, because he was the main reason blacks were forbidden to play big-league ball until 1947. But Ty Cobb outdid Anson in the meanness category, because he hated everyone. However, he was one of the greatest hitters of all time, with a .367 lifetime batting average and 892 stolen bases with the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics. A much older Cobb is interviewed at his Georgia home and he tells it like it is. He may have been nicknamed the Georgia Peach by friends and teammates, but to everyone else, he certainly was no peach, and he took that to his grave in 1961.
Click here to see the rest of this review...
The review of this Movie prepared by Teddy
“Cobb” is a film about “greatness” and the need for heroes. While anyone can be a drunken SOB, not everyone can hit .367 lifetime.
Through an Oscar-caliber performance by Tommy Lee Jones, we see the tortured life of “The Georgia Peach” through the eyes of Al Stump, the sportswriter Ty Cobb hired to write his autobiography. The few scenes on the diamond include a cameo by Roger Clemens as he and Cobb trade insults while Cobb aloofly takes two strikes before doubling, then mowing down three infielders.
Robert Wuhl plays the naive Stump who cannot believe he's being paid by the wealthy Cobb to elaborate on such topics as how to steal second base, when the despised Cobb's real story is much more fascinating. Did he sharpen his spikes before games? Did he beat a heckling cripple and kill another? Disruptive, bigoted and mean, Cobb alienated his family and teammates throughout his life, allegedly due to a tragedy he witnessed as a boy.
As Stump drives Cobb from California to his native Georgia, he secretly compiles a second book about Cobb's ugly side and, has to wonder if he himself is emulating Cobb. When the dying Cobb finds Stump's scribbled notes, he realizes he's been betrayed. Still, the odd friendship between these two men continues with Cobb on his deathbed and Stump pondering which version of the biography to publish.
The review of this Movie prepared by Angry Jim Magin