Cobb

They also had misinformation before the internet, ya know? Based on a since-discredited hatchet job of a biography, COBB has few redeeming qualities, though they are strong: the most charismatic Tommy Lee Jones performance (playing more of a Batman villain than the time he played an actual Batman villain), and Ron Shelton's crackling banter that finds a kind of profane poetry in human ugliness.

Something does not quite seem right about the screenplay and performances here, and the subsequent criticism of the source biography may be relevant to this. The player's faults seem a little too one-dimensional and often implausible, and the writer's conflicts seem somewhat disingenuous. There are a few good lines but it never quite gels, and leaves the impression that the filmmakers were too willing to take a dubious biography as gospel in order to take advantage of its sensationalism.

From the KANE-y opening w/ newsreel, shop-talking reporters, etc. it's clear Shelton intends this as the de-mythologizing of a Great Man, but his film is a perfect example of the subversion of cliché becoming its own crowdpleasing cartoon. Even before Stump's books (& others) were discredited, it's hard to see anyone taking this seriously. Cobb KOs Stump, holds Davidovich's cigarette girl at gunpoint, threatens to fuck her corpse, but golly gee he can't get his dick hard, what delicious irony.

Shelton made a biopic about a complete bastard to aptly explore a common social dilemma: our inability to separate greatness from goodness. This results in the unfortunate tendency to idealize top tier athletes (and artists) rather than compartmentalize our appreciation for their formal mastery. Jones attacks the role of Cobb with complete ferocity, delivering a bold black comic performance that only narrowly skirts parody, and Shelton creates a compelling push-pull dynamic between him and Wuhl.

I don't envy Jones' job of having to make Cobb at least charismatic enough to be slightly sympathetic. He was not a good man, at all.

A revisionist biopic, with a larger-than-life performance in the title role; it is only likely to appeal to a dedicated sports fan.

This movie is unimaginably over the top on every level one can think of. The performances, the story, even the music. I don't whether that's what Cobb was really like, or if the portrayal is exaggerated. It's just bad filmmaking to not have barely a single moment of subtlety or nuance. Kind of a waste.

Good show, just meanders and plods along though. Be patient.

It's a good movie if you keep in mind that it's made from the biography by Al Stump. He painted a picture of Cobb that may have been a little bit nicer than was true. Either way, this is a great movie.

Pretty good.