I had never heard of Ty Cobb before watching this movie, so it's hard to say how shocking the movie was for me (I could have known about him as a baseball player but not known how he was as a person, which would have shocked me royally). "Cobb" is sort of unpleasant to watch, but a good look at an important part of baseball history. Telling how writer Al Stump (Robert Wuhl) traveled around the country with the title character (Tommy Lee Jones), we see who he really was.
A previous reviewer said that a problem with this movie is that it plays off of our obsession with seeing what bastards famous people were. Maybe so, but would we rather have his entire life whitewashed? It seems like Ty Cobb never did anything that wasn't violent. A product of his upbringing? Well, the guy was clearly a racist, and there was that incident with his mother (which he admitted turned him into a real prick).
So, given what you think of Ty Cobb, you'll probably love or hate this movie. Don't expect anything "nice". Also starring Lolita Davidovitch.
A previous reviewer said that a problem with this movie is that it plays off of our obsession with seeing what bastards famous people were. Maybe so, but would we rather have his entire life whitewashed? It seems like Ty Cobb never did anything that wasn't violent. A product of his upbringing? Well, the guy was clearly a racist, and there was that incident with his mother (which he admitted turned him into a real prick).
So, given what you think of Ty Cobb, you'll probably love or hate this movie. Don't expect anything "nice". Also starring Lolita Davidovitch.