# My ears! my ears! (bad accents in movies) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2002, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746 "2002-08-07T11:04:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/1 "2002-08-07T11:04:46Z")
I watched _Men in Tights_ last night, which has it’s moments, but _the accents_ - grauuugh! worse than Dick Van Dyke in _Mary Poppins_. So, what movie is the worst culprit for accent bastardy? (I’ll be very interested to hear the American perspective of, say, Lee Evans’ faux American accent in _MouseHunt_ and Kenneth Branagh in _Dead Again_) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/2 "2002-08-07T11:10:42Z")
Dick Van Dyke takes some beating… But try Julia Roberts’s Irish ‘brogue’ in _Michael Collins_. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/3 "2002-08-07T11:19:10Z")
Got to be Tommy Lee Jones in _ **"Blown Away"** _ doing an Irish accent. Badly. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/4 "2002-08-07T11:20:44Z")
Ewan McGregors “Sgt. Grimes” in Black Hawk Down. What the hell where they thinking when they cast him as an American solider? Worst accent ever. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/5 "2002-08-07T11:22:53Z")
A page [here](http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/06/26/criminal_accents_article.shtml) lists a lot of films I’ve never seen. Dick Van Dyke is sure up there, according to them. What about the others listed? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/6 "2002-08-07T11:26:56Z")
99.999% of all Southern accents are bad. Not everyone in Georgia sound like they just walked off the set of _Gone With the Wind_. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/7 "2002-08-07T11:26:57Z")
The entire “Japanese” cast in _You Only Live Twice_. I believe they were from Hong Kong. “You know your sacky, Mr. Bond” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/8 "2002-08-07T11:31:21Z")
Yup, Mike Myers (IMHO) deserves his place up against the bullet-pocked wall. Let’s expand the scope of this thread to include faux accents that you thought were **good** : I’ll kick off with Mel Gibson in _Hamlet_, which I thought he pulled off remarkably well (although of course it was the accent of a Shakespearian actor, not that of a Dane). ---
**Author:** ![QueenAl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/d26b3c/32.png) [@QueenAl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QueenAl)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/9 "2002-08-07T11:36:56Z")
Natalie Portman as Princess Amidala in make-up mode. Though I could be slamming her unfairly - that was _meant_ to be an Emglish accent, wasn’t it? A good one was Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors. Renee Zellweger was OK in Bridget Jones’ Diary too, though she made some of the obvious mistakes (not _every_ a sound is pronouced ‘ah’, you know, and we do say the r when it comes between vowels). ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/10 "2002-08-07T11:45:23Z")
Russell Crowe’s West Virginia accent in **A Beautiful Mind.** :o ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/11 "2002-08-07T11:46:20Z")
Well, the thing with Star Wars is that none of the accents have to be anything in particular because they are all meant to be from a galaxy far far away (the only exception to this (I think) is Ewan McGregor, who has to try to sound like he will grow up into Alec Guinness) ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/12 "2002-08-07T11:57:44Z")
It’s much harder to pick out good accents, as if they were good they don’t stand out in memory so much. Daniel Day-Lewis in _“The name of the Father”_ was excellent. Robert Carlisle in _“51st State”_ had a passable scouse accent, to me. Although if you are from Liverpool / Chester perhaps you would have a different opinion on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/13 "2002-08-07T12:03:57Z")
I think Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi sounds more like Eddie Izzard than Alec Guinness. I would love it, LOVE it if Eddie Izzard played Obi-Wan Kenobi in episode III. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/14 "2002-08-07T12:07:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Well, the thing with Star Wars is that none of the accents have to be anything in particular because they are all meant to be from a galaxy far far away (the only exception to this (I think) is Ewan McGregor, who has to try to sound like he will grow up into Alec Guinness) \*\* Which reminds me of a Phil Jupitus standup routine where he mocks George Lucas for the (in Jupitus’s view) absurdity of casting an Irishman (Liam Neeson) and a Scotsman (Ewan McGregor) in a space epic, set, as you say, long long ago and far far away. The arrogance of this (English and American accents are more believable? Why?) plus Jupitus’s lame attempt at an Irish accent (I believe he actually said “Begorrah” as part of the sketch) really turned me off. Sorry. Bit of a hijack. My nomination for worst accent? Scottie from Star Trek, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/15 "2002-08-07T12:29:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tansu \* > \*\*I think Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi sounds more like Eddie Izzard than Alec Guinness. I would love it, LOVE it if Eddie Izzard played Obi-Wan Kenobi in episode III. \*\* “Obi, is that _lipstick_ you’re wearing?” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/16 "2002-08-07T12:38:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Aro \* > \*\*It’s much harder to pick out good accents, as if they were good they don’t stand out in memory so much. > > Daniel Day-Lewis in _“The name of the Father”_ was excellent. > > Robert Carlisle in _“51st State”_ had a passable scouse accent, to me. Although if you are from Liverpool / Chester perhaps you would have a different opinion on that one. \*\* Or the English accents in _This is Spinal Tap_. My British friends were all amazed the actors were American. Absolutely bloody brilliant accents (and movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Zoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6de8d8/32.png) [@Zoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoff)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/17 "2002-08-07T12:46:08Z")
Well, I’d nominate Keanu Reeves in _Bram Stoker’s Dracula_ but it seemed like he made the decision early on to simply phase out the accent. It was a really bizarre movie to hear him fading in and out of an accent. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/18 "2002-08-07T12:46:40Z")
[good accent hijack] Connie Booth’s English accent in _Fawlty Towers_ was superb. Another vote for Gwyneth Paltrow in _Sliding Doors_. Meryl Streep is pretty much perfect in every accent she’s ever done. Kevin Kline’s French accent in that rubbish movie with Meg Ryan. What do Merkins think of Nicole Kidman’s and Rachel Griffiths’s Merkin accents? [/good accent hijack] ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/19 "2002-08-07T12:53:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*(I’ll be very interested to hear the American perspective of, say, Lee Evans’ faux American accent in _MouseHunt_ and Kenneth Branagh in _Dead Again_) \*\* I thought Kenneth Branagh’s accent was very good. It’s been a while since I saw the movie, but I don’t remember catching any slips. Guy Pearce’s American accent in **Memento** was pretty good, too…he only slipped a couple of times (I remember him saying “alone” with his own accent in one scene). ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/20 "2002-08-07T12:58:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*99.999% of all Southern accents are bad. Not everyone in Georgia sound like they just walked off the set of _Gone With the Wind_. \*\* Oh, Gawd! Canadian Dan Ackroyd in “Driving Miss Daisy” trying to fake a Southern accent is the most painful thing I’ve ever heard. He pronounces “here” as “hee-yaah!” which is the sound a donkey makes when it brays. ☹ In Mississippi, we pronounce “here” as “hnh!”, more of a noise than a word, really. “Girl, you betta get yo ass ovah hnh!” is what my uncle says to me whenever I’m trying to get into trouble. 🆒 .:Nichol:. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746.md?page=2)