Rose in shades of gray

Sporting News, The, August 30, 2004 by Peter Bogdanovich

Let's put it this way: Tempered with what Pete Rose was doing and how he was behaving, combined with his innate likability, he makes for an interesting mix.

Rose is not a black-and-white story. And in the movie I've directed for ESPN, Hustle, which premieres September 25, he comes off as quite human. Wrong, but human.

I don't know what Pete will say when he sees it; he wasn't involved in the making of the picture. This is not an enormously flattering portrait, unfortunately.

The picture really begins after he has stopped being a ballplayer and is the manager of the Reds. There's a preamble where you see him break Ty Cobb's record, but that's merely a documentary section. The story effectively begins with the Dowd Report and the gambling.

It's appropriate that Tom Sizemore doesn't play Pete Rose as a heavy. He plays Rose the human being, and he gives an extraordinary dramatic performance.

There's only a little bit of baseball in the picture--when he's managing. ESPN, the producers and I worked hard to be authentic to please Tom, who is a real sports fan. He knows all of the baseball stuff, and he was very hip to all the baseball lingo.

I love baseball, but I don't really follow it. I'm not a zealot, not a fanatic. I will admit that, like more than a few others who grew up in Brooklyn, the Dodgers broke my heart when they left.

One baseball memory does stand out, when I saw the Dodgers play in Los Angeles; it must have been in 1965. Sandy Koufax was pitching. My first wife and I went to the game with Cary Grant and his first wife. How could watching any ballgame compare to that one? I mean, Koufax, and sitting with Cary Grant! He even bought us Dodger Dogs.

Doing Hustle was great, but it seems to have been easier making a movie in old Hollywood. The Last Picture Show was produced at a time when unions agreed to concessions, and we made that for $1 million or less. Hustle cost well over that, and getting it made was much more complex in terms of rigid deadlines and working in Toronto. And in the end, you always wish you could shoot every scene over.

Still, there were no major problems, and I have no excuses if it doesn't play well. We did three weeks of shooting, and all we had to add was a little more on the Dowd Report. I normally shoot very tight, and as l sat down to edit, I can tell you the movie was only 2 minutes too long before I had to make a cut to fit ESPN's running time. I only

had to "shake it a little" to get it all in. I'm pleased with it. I believe the film to be well-written and well-researched.

I read a book on Rose before we made the movie, and Tom read three. Although I don't actually know Pete Rose, I like Rose the character and respect his ability.

Jerry Lewis and I had a discussion about whether Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. He said, "Mark Spitz won seven gold medals at the Olympics. No matter what he did, he wouldn't have to give them back." I didn't have an answer.

Rose was an extraordinary ballplayer and a terrific hero, and that should qualify him. The tragic errors he made all were off the field.

Hustle shows what happened. It tells the truth about his behavior, and it doesn't really take sides. But it is a very, very sad tale.

Peter Bogdanovich, an acclaimed director for more than three decades, has directed Academy Award-winning titles such as The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon and Mask. His latest movie, Hustle, premieres at 9 p.m. ET Saturday, September 25, on ESPN.