MovieChat Forums > Jay Baruchel Discussion > MASS Accent in Goon

MASS Accent in Goon

posted 13 years ago by crankyerma1984
7 replies | jump to latest

I like Jay. I love the movie "Goon." However, nothing bugs me more or takes me out of a picture more than when someone who has no clue how to do a Massachusetts accent plays a character who has one. Invariably they either do the "Hahvid Yahd" thing or they do a bad JFK impression. As someone who grew up in the area, it bugs the poop outta me.

I didn't even know that Jay's character was supposed to be from Mass the first time I watched "Goon." That's how much he missed the mark. I wish he had just played it straight up like a Canadian rather than failing miserably at the Western Mass thing he was going for.

Again, other than that, he's great fun to watch perform.

[–] n/a

This message has been deleted by the poster

[–] n/a

This message has been deleted by an administrator

[–] nova8800 12 years ago

Lol. Did you know two people can grow up next door to each other and have different accents?

Jay's accent was dead on. The accent you grew up with and presumably have now is the phony.

[–] Toby_gibson002 11 years ago

And yet no one complains when Movies like "Memories of a Geisha" are done in broken English rather than subtitled Japanese. If the movie is in English, but they are supposed to be speaking perfectly native Japanese, their English should be perfect.

On the other hand- it is a movie- they are actors- I heard this same shizzit about Leonardo Dicapprio's "Blood Diamond- even though each township of South Africa alone have different accents and dialects of slang. Try to not be so literal about acting- it is acting, not doing an impression. Listen to what they say and use your imagination- it is make believe. :-)

[–] brockmeeks 10 years ago

Besides Seann W. Scott, Leiv S. and the Russians, every other speaking role was played by a Canadian....

I'm inclined to believe you don't know what you're talking about.

Even if you're a Canadian, you didn't realize that 98% of the cast was Canadian as well?

[–] crankyerma1984 9 years ago

Nova8800,

I know that very well. For instance, the Fall River accent for some reason has an extra 'r' sound at the end of words like 'floor' and 'door'. Winthrop is different than Charlestown, Southie is different from Quincy, Merrimack Valley sounds more like Southern New Hampshire than it does Boston, and so on. I get it. I have lived all over New England. Jay's accent in "Goon" sounds like none of that. It sounds like a guy making a bad attempt at an accent. BTW, you can disagree with me without calling me a phony or a liar. Why on earth would I come to gripe here about a topic like this if I were just making it up? The only reason I notice any of it is that no one in my family had an accent and I never acquired one. So, they always fascinated me. When I write a script with Boston characters, it's hard to find people who get it right. You end up having to cast people who grew up in the area.

[–] jacksvoice 9 years ago

about to be a sequel and this time i think Jay is the one behind the camera and on