Its like a mix between Forrest Gump and Chief Wiggum from The Simpsons.
shareha ha i laughed so hard at the beginning with the "this is your report cawd" line. it was so bad
about an hour in, i wasn't laughing. i was crying at how pathetic it was, and that he occasionally forgot to use it.
salmon say "meskyrp"
The entire cast pretty much sucked in the way of accents, but Costner was by far the worst (or funniest, depending upon your opinion). I agree with what someone else said, Bobby's entire character was the best of the three. Though in the beginning, I was really shocked at the almost complete lack of accent John had.
shareAll the accents were pretty bad but Costner was by far the worst. I have heard some REALY bad ones though, I am from Maine and it is really funny to hear them try the Maine accent.
shareI live in Boston. When I saw this movie, I asked my friends what kind of accent Kevin Costner was supposed to have. Absolutely atrocious. I agree that it sounded like a Forest Gump hybrid of sorts.
shareI agree that the accent was horrible, but I think it either went away or I got used to is after the first 20 minutes because I didn't notice it anymore after that.
Great movie though, and the cast played their parts very well with the exception of the accents.
ugh Costner, i'm not a costner fan but that's not what I wanna talk about. I'm from the boston area and I've been told I have a pretty bad Boston accent. I just want to make sure, people with Boston accents don't really sound like that do they?
sharehaha, spot on
shareI think Costner's accent was really bad. But it would've been better if that accent had been on JFK (Or even RFK), but not O'Donnel.
Because the first time I saw this movie, I was like "Wait does Kevin Costner play JFK?" Cause I knew he didn't, but the accent sounded like it should've been for him.
I force a smile, knowing that my ambition far exceeded my talent.
Yeah dude kept switching from Boston accents to Southern and was sucky at both.
share[deleted]
I thought the very same thing...and I noticed in the first line of the
entire movie when he asked his son about his "report CAHHHHHHD".
My shoulders slumped and I said to myself, "Aw crap....am I going
to have to hear THIS for the next 2 1/2 hours?" I went to school
and now live in the Boston area (I'm from Connecticut) and the
Boston accent is hard to handle from people who actually speak it.
But to hear Costner attempt it was SOOOOOO goddamned awful
and intolerable. He could spoken in his own voice and we wouldnt
not have been the wiser. Sure his character was a friend of the
Kennedy's and was from Massachusetts, but I would have rather
have NOT heard him try to sound like the person he was portraying.
Luckilly the 2 actors playing the JFK and RFK were excellent
and there was a long section of the movie where Costner had no lines,
thankfully.
Other than that, this movie was excellent and gave me
the feeling as Apollo 13 did. Even though you knew how it ends,
getting to the conclusion is still very tense.
[deleted]
I'm from Texas and thought that Costner's accent was over the top and distracting in the movie so for people from the Northeast it must have been really irritating. Keanu Reeves trying to do a Southern accent in Devil's Advocate was pretty bad too.
share[deleted]
No, Greenwood didn't sound a thing like the real JFK, but he did a good job in the role, so I let it slide. And his non-accent and gravelly voice weren't nearly as offensive to the ear as Costner's ridiculous accent. Costner would have been better off not bothering, or not trying so hard.
shareI think Costner's accent was absolutely terrible. I can't even take him seriously as an actor anymore.
shareYeah, well your a dumbass mecoble. If he sucks why the hell are you here then? I despise people like you and I don't care if the whole world knows it. If you don't like him, then at least half the ounce of brain you already have should be telling you, don't go to his IMDb!
shareWhen the movie came out, my wife and I went to see it. Besides Costner's terrible accent, there were TERRIBLE editing problems! In nearly EVERY scene the microphone boom was visible!!! For instance, in the White House and then the final scene in the Costner household. My wife and I were both laughing at the editing (and Costner's accent) and naturally it took something away from enjoying the movie.
I have picked up the DVD; it must have had significant post-production editing done because the mic boom is no longer visible, which in a way is disappointing to me now... LOL. I wanted a good laugh again!!
"I play basketball. And I eat grapes"
I liked it.
sharei thought costner and jfks accents were terribly flawed.
there is one moment, i had to rewind to check it because it was so obvious. i think its costner, jfk and bobbie k in the oval office on a couch towards the end and a boom mike drops in from the top of the screen.
im not someone who notices these things, but i cant believe it wasnt caught in the editing process..
terrible film anyway.
Personally I think that Kevin Costner's accent although a bit dodgey, really didn't take from the film at all, I'm sorry for being a spoilsport but I hate when people let small silly things like accents take from enjoyment of a film. It'such a small issue and it really doesn't effect the overall story at all.I really think people need to stop focusing on the little nitty gritty details like accents and just enjoy the film for what it is; a good solid historical and political drama with a human egde.
Also some people were critisizing Bruce and Steven's accents. Well I'd have to strongly disagree. I think they both do a superb job of bringing to life the voice of the two most listened to men at the time. They were, I'll admit, better than Costner IMO.
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy
I can see what you are saying re:accents being a minor thing compared to the plot of the movie. In most situations I would agree; however, I think that Costner's accent was so horrible that it actually detracted from the movie substantially. It would have been so much better if either:
-They picked a different actor who had a reasonable Boston accent
-They had him not attempt an accent at all
His accent completely and wholly ruined the movie for me because it was so preposterous. I honestly cannot recall a movie in which an actor has so horribly butchered an accent as this one, and I am trying not to exaggerate. His accent in this movie is the worst I think I have ever heard.
As mentioned earlier in this thread, the one that particularly sticks in my mind is::
"... like it's our own personal fourth (faaawth) of July "
Perhaps it is because I have lived in Boston in the past and I know what the accent sounds like that it was so offensive. However, I believe that it would have been much better if someone had realized early in production that he sounded ridiculous and told him to use no accent at all.
In all fairness though if he hadn't done an accent he would have been critized for that too don't you think. He himself says in the Making of on the DVD that he knew he had to at least try an accent because otherwise it would have been Kevin Costner talking to JFK not Kenny O'Donnell.
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy
You're probably right re:the accent; I'm sure he was doomed to criticism either way. I think it would have raised less eyebrows though, for him to use no accent at all; Kenny O'Donnell is certainly not as high-profile of a character as RFK / JFK, and I guarantee that many people would not have known that he had a Boston accent in real life if Costner had not attempted to use one. How many people can recognize Kenny O'Donnell's voice, compared to RFK or JFK? Can you imagine how painful it would have been to see an actor use the Costner accent as JFK or RFK? (shudder)
If that were going to be the case I think they'd have had to cancel the film altogether. JFK and RFK HAVE to sound like JFK and RFK! Lucky they picked Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp for the roles. They were perfect.
Still I really think Costner was better to at least try the accent because some-one would have picked up it and kicked up a fuss. Some smart-alleck critic or something.
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy
I think the people criticizing Bruce Greenwood's attempt have to hear some audio of JFK that were not public speeches and were behind closed doors. If you do, then you will realize JFK was a bit quiet, perhaps methodical, and not loud. I think Greenwood, but mostly Culp, did terrific jobs on the Boston accent.
sharethough it's one of my favorites, the accents suck.
the funniest one was when kenndy o'donnel went to the game and called his son "spaut" lol
You call Costner's accent a Boston accent?! My History teacher put the film on for us and it took us all a good 15 minutes to get into the film after all the hard laughter on his ridiculous Boston accent. You forget about it and quickly get engaged in the film, but being a Boston resident, oh man, that is one horrible attempt at a Boston accent.
sharei thought the same thing
shareIts not just Bostonians who laugh at the accent. Most people have heard a Boston accent and laugh their arses off at Kevin Costner's 'attempt'.
I don't think it ruins the movie, but really the Kenny O'Donnell character really took a lot from it, the accent being part of it. From the way the movie potrayed it, Kenny was just a big an influence as Bobby Kennedy. The family were apparently horrified at the potrayel of Kenny O'Donnell (according the Christopher Lawford) and the upgrading of his role.
My friend and I were watching the movie just to hear Costner's accent- we laughed almost the whole time. Also, "attuuhhnneee general".....
share