What Is Al Pacino's Use Of Ethos In Any Given Sunday

English 1030

Professor Baltin

10/26/17 (draft 1)

Any Given Sunday

On December 22nd, 1999, the movie “Any Given Sunday”, directed by Oliver Stone, came out. He was a two time academy award winner for best director. Cameron Diaz, who played Christina Pagniacci, won outstanding actress in a feature film and favorite actress from this movie.

One of the best scene from this movie is the “inch by inch” speech that the coach, Al Pacino, gives his players. The old aged coach of the football team, works hard and motivates his players so that they can go out on the field with more confidence and self assurance.

A professional football team, The Miami Sharks, was at the top, however, now they have experienced three back to back losses. Two of the

This speech given by Al Pacino clearly shows the rhetorical appeals, ethos, logos, and pathos. Al pacino starts off his speech by expressing how overwhelmed he was by the situation. In the beginning of the speech he starts off with a low, firm voice, and then by the end of his speech he turns into a wise man who knows what he is talking about. His energy, voice, and body language all increase. He starts off slowly by saying “I don’t know what to say really…” and he ends with confidence, “Now whattaya gonna do?!” This shows ethos because Al Pacino relates his speech to his own personal experiences, making him wise.

This speech also gives a great emotional rhetorical figures. As Al Pacino is giving his speech, he mentions all of his mistakes he has made in his life. “I pissed away all my money, I chased off anyone who has ever loved me. And lately, I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror.” He compares the things he has failed in with the game. He also gives a solution to how the team can overcome the life and game situation. “You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football.” He explains that either in life or the game you have to get better in small steps and increase

Earlier in his speech, he mentions “Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble.” What he means by this is that they are a team and they will only win as a team or loose as individuals. This is logical because in football you have to play as a team and the only way they can win is if the whole team works together and stays on the same page. He tries to persuade his players by using the logic that they need to stick together to win and everyone's effort counts. Later in his speech he also uses another form of logos when he says, “I’ll tell you this in any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch.” This is another logical statements Pacino’s uses because when someone is in a competition the person who is willing to go the extra mile will most likely be victorious at the end of the contest. To close the speech Pacino used logos to make one final statement:

Now I can’t make you do it. You gotta look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes. Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for