Compare and Contrast
Content
Lotz 1
Marissa Lotz
English 101: Rhetoric
Mr. Newman
October 15 2014
42: Home Run or Run Home
Legendary Pictures is a top movie production company. They have made multiple movies
that almost everyone knows from Godzilla to Batman to The Hangover. In 2013 Legendary
Pictures produced the movie 42, which was directed and written by Brian Helgeland. The movie
is an American biographical sports film about the life of Jackie Robinson and the struggles he
went through. The movie follows Robinson’s journey of becoming the first African American
major league baseball player. He had to endure a lot of criticism not only from peers, but also his
teammates. Although Steven Rea and Ann Hornaday agree that the director chosen for 42 was
the best choice and they use similar parts in their summaries, they differ with how they use
diction to captivate the audience.
Both Rea and Hornaday agreed that the director, Helgeland, was the best for the movie.
They compared him to Spike Lee and other directors, and how he was able to capture Robinson’s
life. Ann Hornaday enjoyed 42, saying that “Brian Helgeland has finally succeeded in 42, a
stirring, straightforward and ultimately soaring portrayal of Robinson’s historic entry into Major
League Baseball in 1947.” Hornaday is pretty much writing how Helgeland was the one director
that portrayed Robinson’s, almost impossible, accomplishments perfectly. But it wasn’t just the
directing that made it good, they both felt that the way he made every part of the movie seem so
real was part of the finesse of the movie. The movie “doesn't shirk from showing how daunting it
was for Robinson to turn the other cheek… in the face of the insults and hostility” as others
Lotz 2
usually do (Rea.) This shows how Rea felt Helgeland was the right director for the job. Hornaday
like Rea, thinks Helgeland was a great director for this movie, she felt that he was able to bring
the movie to life. Hornaday mentioned that the sound design really brought it all together “with
every crack of the bat and thwack of the mitt emphasizing the ballistic hardness of a ball that, in
Robinson’s case, was often launched as a weapon,” is an excellent way to prove that the sound
design really was amazing quality.
Not only did Rea and Hornaday agree with the choice of director, but they also laid out
their summary of the movie in the same format and used the same main points. It was almost as
if their brains were linked when they were writing the review for the movie. They both would
write a little about the movie and then go into it more, and describe how they felt it was, then
they would repeat the process. Both authors write of how “42 is the inspirational account of that
historic coming-to-terms” movie on the subject of race (Rea). They describe the nature of the
movie in the same way. Both obviously write a little on how the movie portrays Robinson as “a
gifted athlete from California with an impressive record in the Negro leagues, seeing as how that
is what the movie is all about it fits in well. They both hit on the topic of who was casted and
summarize on the excellency of who was chosen for what part. Rea and Hornaday may not know
each other, but they do have similar ways to summarizing.
While Rea and Hornaday may have a few things in common, there is still some
differences in their style. Their diction is very different when it comes to describing parts, or
people in the movie. Hornaday’s diction is very hard hitting, it captures the mind and makes it
feel like you were actually there. Hornaday describes Harrison Ford, who plays Rickey, as a man
“with a jutting jaw, squinting eye and hoarse bark straight out of the Irascible Old Coot
playbook,” so the way Hornaday writes about Ford’s features makes it easy to visualize him and
Lotz 3
hear his voice. While Rea just says “Harrison Ford, who adopts a codgery Midwestern demean to
play Branch Rickey,” doesn’t give a detailed description of Ford like Hornaday does, and that
helps makes the audience imagine him right away. Rea does hit a lot of important parts of the
movie, he just doesn’t incorporate the style that Hornaday does when it comes to how they
describe the parts or cast.
While Rea and Hornaday may be different because of their diction, they still have some
similarities. Both authors write their summaries the same, and believe that the director made the
movie fantastic. While the director may have made it fantastic, the movie 42 is more than just the
director, and a baseball movie, it is an inspirational movie that is about hard hitting topics that
still affect the world today. So you don’t have to be a baseball buff to watch this movie and
understand it, you just have to sit down, relax, and enjoy the movie.
Works Cited
Hornaday, Ann. “Finally, a film Worthy of a Legend.” The Washington Post. N.p., 12 Apr. 2013.
Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
Rea, Steve. “Jackie Robinson Biopic a Solid Triple.” The Inquirer. N.p., 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 17
Lotz 4
Oct. 2014.
Marissa Lotz
English 101: Rhetoric
Mr. Newman
October 15 2014
42: Home Run or Run Home
Legendary Pictures is a top movie production company. They have made multiple movies
that almost everyone knows from Godzilla to Batman to The Hangover. In 2013 Legendary
Pictures produced the movie 42, which was directed and written by Brian Helgeland. The movie
is an American biographical sports film about the life of Jackie Robinson and the struggles he
went through. The movie follows Robinson’s journey of becoming the first African American
major league baseball player. He had to endure a lot of criticism not only from peers, but also his
teammates. Although Steven Rea and Ann Hornaday agree that the director chosen for 42 was
the best choice and they use similar parts in their summaries, they differ with how they use
diction to captivate the audience.
Both Rea and Hornaday agreed that the director, Helgeland, was the best for the movie.
They compared him to Spike Lee and other directors, and how he was able to capture Robinson’s
life. Ann Hornaday enjoyed 42, saying that “Brian Helgeland has finally succeeded in 42, a
stirring, straightforward and ultimately soaring portrayal of Robinson’s historic entry into Major
League Baseball in 1947.” Hornaday is pretty much writing how Helgeland was the one director
that portrayed Robinson’s, almost impossible, accomplishments perfectly. But it wasn’t just the
directing that made it good, they both felt that the way he made every part of the movie seem so
real was part of the finesse of the movie. The movie “doesn't shirk from showing how daunting it
was for Robinson to turn the other cheek… in the face of the insults and hostility” as others
Lotz 2
usually do (Rea.) This shows how Rea felt Helgeland was the right director for the job. Hornaday
like Rea, thinks Helgeland was a great director for this movie, she felt that he was able to bring
the movie to life. Hornaday mentioned that the sound design really brought it all together “with
every crack of the bat and thwack of the mitt emphasizing the ballistic hardness of a ball that, in
Robinson’s case, was often launched as a weapon,” is an excellent way to prove that the sound
design really was amazing quality.
Not only did Rea and Hornaday agree with the choice of director, but they also laid out
their summary of the movie in the same format and used the same main points. It was almost as
if their brains were linked when they were writing the review for the movie. They both would
write a little about the movie and then go into it more, and describe how they felt it was, then
they would repeat the process. Both authors write of how “42 is the inspirational account of that
historic coming-to-terms” movie on the subject of race (Rea). They describe the nature of the
movie in the same way. Both obviously write a little on how the movie portrays Robinson as “a
gifted athlete from California with an impressive record in the Negro leagues, seeing as how that
is what the movie is all about it fits in well. They both hit on the topic of who was casted and
summarize on the excellency of who was chosen for what part. Rea and Hornaday may not know
each other, but they do have similar ways to summarizing.
While Rea and Hornaday may have a few things in common, there is still some
differences in their style. Their diction is very different when it comes to describing parts, or
people in the movie. Hornaday’s diction is very hard hitting, it captures the mind and makes it
feel like you were actually there. Hornaday describes Harrison Ford, who plays Rickey, as a man
“with a jutting jaw, squinting eye and hoarse bark straight out of the Irascible Old Coot
playbook,” so the way Hornaday writes about Ford’s features makes it easy to visualize him and
Lotz 3
hear his voice. While Rea just says “Harrison Ford, who adopts a codgery Midwestern demean to
play Branch Rickey,” doesn’t give a detailed description of Ford like Hornaday does, and that
helps makes the audience imagine him right away. Rea does hit a lot of important parts of the
movie, he just doesn’t incorporate the style that Hornaday does when it comes to how they
describe the parts or cast.
While Rea and Hornaday may be different because of their diction, they still have some
similarities. Both authors write their summaries the same, and believe that the director made the
movie fantastic. While the director may have made it fantastic, the movie 42 is more than just the
director, and a baseball movie, it is an inspirational movie that is about hard hitting topics that
still affect the world today. So you don’t have to be a baseball buff to watch this movie and
understand it, you just have to sit down, relax, and enjoy the movie.
Works Cited
Hornaday, Ann. “Finally, a film Worthy of a Legend.” The Washington Post. N.p., 12 Apr. 2013.
Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
Rea, Steve. “Jackie Robinson Biopic a Solid Triple.” The Inquirer. N.p., 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 17
Lotz 4
Oct. 2014.
