Al Stump is a famous sports-writer chosen by Ty Cobb to co-write his official, authorized ‘autobiography’ before his death. Cobb, widely feared and despised, feels misunderstood and wants to set the record straight about ‘the greatest ball-player ever,’ in his words. However, when Stump spends time with Cobb, interviewing him and beginning to write, he realizes that the general public opinion is largely correct. In Stump’s presence, Cobb is angry, violent, racist, misogynistic, and incorrigibly abusive to everyone around him. Torn between printing the truth by plumbing the depths of Cobb’s dark soul and grim childhood, and succumbing to Cobb’s pressure for a whitewash of his character and a simple baseball tale of his greatness, Stump writes two different books. One book is for Cobb, the other for the public. -IMDb.
Ron Shelton (September 15, 1945 in Whittier, California) is a U.S. film director and screenwriter, most notable for making movies about sports. Shelton is an alumnus of Santa Barbara High School and of the University of Arizona and Westmont College. He is the oldest of four brothers, and grew up in Montecito, California. Before beginning his movie career, Shelton was a minor league baseball player in the Baltimore Orioles’ organization from 1967 to 1971.He is married to Canadian-born actress Lolita Davidovich, who has appeared in three of Shelton’s films and with whom he has two children. The couple reside in Los Angeles and Ojai, California. —Wikipedia
Tommy Lee Jones' stellar performance is almost completely wasted by an overly generic storyline (reporter recalling Cobb's career and life through flashback). This should have been baseball's 'Raging Bull', but it fell somewhat short. As loathsome as Cobb is presented in the film, it barely scratches the surface as to how horrible an excuse for a human being he actually was.
Hey, this wasn't too bad. The acting seemed pretty contrived and the dialogue is nothing special, but the subject is fascinating and the plot moves along rather well. Thank god it's not an underdog story, plus Cobb is a sports movie where you actually hear people say "mother fucker." They didn't keep it totally safe.