# Dick Van Dyke's legacy: worst accents in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880 "2004-08-01T22:56:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/41 "2004-08-02T16:37:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Brad Pitt in The Devil’s Own (though I did like the script’s approach to corned beef and cabbage: “I’ve never heard of it”.) Some Irish dopers can help me. I remember a magazine (I think it was Entertainment Weekly) that rated Irish accents. They asked genuine Irish people for their opinions. Brad Pitt was highly praised for his accent. Most Americans didn’t recognize it because it was a Belfast accent and not what Americans are used to hearing. The occasion for the poll was Richard Gere’s awfull Irish accent in The Jackal so that my contribution. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/42 "2004-08-02T16:41:00Z")
Having grown up in New Jersey, I know what people who live there sound like. Almost no one gets a Jersey accent right. Too many people have it confused with a Brooklyn accent, for some reason. The Sopranos gets Jersey right. The Sopranos get it sorta right for that small part of Jersey only. A real Jersey accent is Gandolphini when he is not in character. See also Danny Devito, John Travolta, Jack Nicholson etc etc. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/43 "2004-08-02T17:13:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Some Irish dopers can help me. I remember a magazine (I think it was Entertainment Weekly) that rated Irish accents. They asked genuine Irish people for their opinions. Brad Pitt was highly praised for his accent. I would say there’s less consensus in Ireland on his accent than there is on most Americans’ Irish accents, which is itself something of a compliment (very few Americans face anything other than universal derision for their attempts). As someone who has never lived in Belfast, but has lived among a number of Belfast expats and travels there fairly often, I’d say Pitt generally got the _tone_ of the Belfast accent right, but his pronunciation comes and goes. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/44 "2004-08-02T17:33:52Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I am a real stickler for accents. I hate it when actors don’t make the effort to get it right - they get paid multiple millions to sit around and be fawned over all their life, and they can’t even be arsed to put the effort in to do their frickin’ job? Sean Connery, I’m looking at _you_!! You who have played everything from Irish to American to Russian to English to Ancient Greek, and you don’t even try to pretend you’re anything but a Scotsman with a speech impediment. Gah!! Connery should really get his own thread. He doesn’t even sound Scottish! What the hell is he? As the years go on, he sounds more and more like he’s doing a drunken parody of himself. Orr shuld I shey, himshelf. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/45 "2004-08-02T18:43:52Z")
The wandering accent that confused a generation - Carrie Fisher in _Star Wars_. First she has a fakey-sounding English accent, then she doesn’t. And apparently it runs in the family, because Natalie Portman does the same thing in _The Phantom Menace_. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/46 "2004-08-02T18:59:51Z")
That seems to be an artistic convention in American movies - the bad guys have vaguely-menacing British accents. In almost any war or spy movie, the Germans and Russians seem to switch over to them after a token couple of lines in the real languages. An American just couldn’t do Emperor Palpatine or any of his minions effectively, and James Earl Jones’ voice is hardly typically American anyway. Props to Kenneth Branagh as the \*only \* British actor I’ve ever heard do an American accent well enough that an American doesn’t notice anything at all off, in _Dead Again_. Emma Thompson, then his wife, couldn’t quite manage it in that one. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/47 "2004-08-02T19:13:12Z")
> [@paulberserker](#): > > The bad guy with the tache and string vest in Commando. I can’t tell if he’s supposed to be cockerney/australian or south african. That was Vernon Wells, and he is Australian. He was also in **Mad Max**. If his accent grated in **Commando** , it’s probably because the director told him, “You don’t sound Australian **enough** : you gotta punch it up!” I mean, was **anything** in that movie plausible? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/48 "2004-08-02T19:13:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Props to Kenneth Branagh as the only British actor I’ve ever heard do an American accent well enough that an American doesn’t notice anything at all off, in Dead Again. Emma Thompson, then his wife, couldn’t quite manage it in that one. Actually, I thought Bob Hoskins did a great job in **Who Framed Roger Rabbit?**. Compare his voice with that in any of his other films. ---
**Author:** ![Feit\_C\_Taj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@Feit\_C\_Taj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feit_C_Taj)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/49 "2004-08-02T19:23:35Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > That was Vernon Wells, and he is Australian. He was also in **Mad Max**. If his accent grated in **Commando** , it’s probably because the director told him, “You don’t sound Australian **enough** : you gotta punch it up!” I mean, was **anything** in that movie plausible? Personally, I thought his best accent was from **Innerspace** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/50 "2004-08-02T19:36:35Z")
Harrison Ford’s Russian in “K-19:The Widowmaker”. It may not be the WORST accent ever, but it really grated at me in the previews I saw for it as being not really Russian, but closer to Yugoslavian. Then again, I could be wrong (or the character might not’ve been russian, I didnt see the movie.) ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/51 "2004-08-02T19:37:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, I thought Bob Hoskins did a great job in **Who Framed Roger Rabbit?**. Compare his voice with that in any of his other films. I’ll agree with that! Roger Rabbit was the first movie I ever saw him in, and it wasn’t until I saw him in a couple more movies that I realized he _wasn’t_ an American. My nomination has to go to some horrible piece of drek that Van Damme did some years ago (can’t even remember the title) in which he had a now-you-hear-it, now-you-don’t American accent. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/52 "2004-08-02T19:48:49Z")
Christopher Lambert in the Highlander movies. I don’t know if he was worse when he was trying to sound American, or when he was trying to sound Scottish. Brando’s hick accent in The Wild One is really atrocious. ---
**Author:** ![dry\_gear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@dry\_gear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dry_gear)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/53 "2004-08-02T21:26:35Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > The wandering accent that confused a generation - Carrie Fisher in Star Wars. First she has a fakey-sounding English accent, then she doesn’t. And apparently it runs in the family, because Natalie Portman does the same thing in The Phantom Menace. Weird. From what I hear, Carrie Fisher had just been taking lessons in London before ANH, and so she picked up a little of an accent. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/54 "2004-08-02T22:08:28Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > I’ll agree with that! Roger Rabbit was the first movie I ever saw him in, and it wasn’t until I saw him in a couple more movies that I realized he _wasn’t_ an American. You said it. His voice work in Super Mario Bros. is also superb. (;)) Seeing him do British (I think he’s naturally got a Cockney accent) is what feels weird. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/55 "2004-08-02T23:19:54Z")
John Wayne tried to sound Mongol as Ghengis Khan in _The Conqueror_, but wound up sounding like Mongo from _Blazing Saddles_. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/56 "2004-08-03T00:10:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Props to Kenneth Branagh as the only British actor I’ve ever heard do an American accent well enough that an American doesn’t notice anything at all off Maybe a generic American accent, but Wild wild west was trully painful. The best American accent I have ever heard was Eamon Walker as Kareem Said in Oz. It really blew me away when I saw him in an interview and heard his normal voice, and found out he wasn’t American. He does the American ‘Angry tough Black man’ voice perfectly ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/57 "2004-08-03T01:04:36Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > Natasha Richardson’s ridiculous Southern (US) accent in “Nell.” Wha-huh? I thought she got it dead-on in that movie, enough that it’s always stood out as one of the best examples of a non-southerner doing a southern accent. I know tons of people who talk exactly like that! ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/58 "2004-08-03T01:16:13Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Haven’t seen that one yet; maybe he’s gotten better. His wasn’t the worst of all the ear-splitting accents in that movie, but it definitely wasn’t good. Actually, Jessica Lange’s was the most convincing, and (IMO) Albert Finney’s after that. Finney not so much because it sounded like a real Alabama accent, but because he didn’t sound like he was affecting anything. Helena Bonham Carter’s wasn’t way off, but it sounded very affected, much like Kenneth Brannagh’s American accent in _Dead Again_. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/59 "2004-08-03T01:47:03Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Kenneth Branagh sometimes seems to get away with it, but not always and often only for brief spells. Maybe it was just one of his better attempts, but the first movie I saw either him or Emma Thompson in was _Dead Again_ and I was shocked to later find out that neither of them was American. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880/60 "2004-08-03T01:54:38Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > Wha-huh? I thought [Natasha Richardson] got it dead-on in [**Nell**], enough that it’s always stood out as one of the best examples of a non-southerner doing a southern accent. I know tons of people who talk exactly like that! I agree completely. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-van-dykes-legacy-worst-accents-in-movies/257880.md?page=4)