The film was OK, started out very good and then got a little boring. My biggest thorn, however, was that 3 of the top 4 actors were born in England. So, instead of an American doing a southern accent, you have 3 UK'ers doing it and it is very unconvincing. I can barely do a Brit accent, I can't imagine trying to convice someone of a cockney (sp?) accent on top of that.
Oh yeah, the movie... well, it was just OK.
I get so tired of hearing this same complaint over and over again. Vivian Leigh, a Brit, played perhaps the most famous Southern character in any movie ever.
shareRight . . . makes little sense to me--it seems like people do not understand the concept of being an actor. You do not have to be whatever it is that you're playing.
http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies
The acadian (Louisiana accent)has its roots in France and the French Canadian settlers who were displaced to Louisiana in the 18th century.
I'm not sure that casting more American actors would have made the film sound more "authentic."
A case can be made that the roots of the "Southern" accent reside in the Old English tongue of Shakesperian days. This may be one of the reasons that Jude Law seems to land these kinds of roles, Cold Mountain, for example.
If you're going to go down the brits taking american roles line i think you really need to look at the other way round. So so many brit roles are taken by american actors - bridget jones, emma, shakespeare in love - the list goes on and on. But we bite our upper crust tongue!!!
If you guys reckon that was an awful portrayal of southern accents - at least there is an attempt to recognise regional accents in american films - i imagine most americans think brits are all posh, drink afternoon tea at the ritz and went to oxford uni - alas we're all alot more real that this! I dispair!!!!!!
By the way no awards for the film?! esp sean penn!
Perhaps you despair, not "dispair?" But, essentially, I agree with you. Actors
from both sides of the pond these days are very talented when it comes to doing accents. In the old days we had Lawrence Harvey trying to be an American army vet in "The Manchurian Candidate." The Brit who played his mother, Angela Landsbury,
did a better American accent. It was especially noticeable when Harvey had scenes with Frank Sinatra, who sounded like he had never left Hoboken, while Harvey was all "Oh, I say, didn't we have a nasty time over there in Korea?"
Anyway-- Yeah, today actors tend to be excellent at doing accents, I guess because they get good coaching. I have no problem with Anthony Hopkins and Jude Law doing southern accents. The Southern accent is the easiest one to mimic.
What you should really be concerned about is Stewie from "Family Guy."
Hmmm, why don't we take a look at some of the very biggest Hollywood films of all time?....
Gone With The Wind
The Sound Of Music
Lawrence Of Arabia
Titanic
Notice any connection?...
How about British actors as leads....?
I don't have a problem with Brits playing Americans or the other way around, and you shouldn't either. With the right coaching, we do eachother justice, and the only thing I don't like about Hollywood southern accents is that the accents' the same no matter what part of the south the movie its set in, so if you didn't no any better you'd think everybody in the whole south sounds alike. Big piss off.
shareWorst example of a brit doing a southern accent:
Michael Caine in "Hurry Sundown"
Michael Caine is hardly Mr. Versatile
shareThere is a reason why more brits play southern roles. I think I learned it on a behind the scenes of Big Fish or something, but their accent is closer to the southern accent than many other americans. The southern accent is still the same accent as it has been since we first deviated from the British that founded us. it has a lot of the same rhythm and all to it. I'm not saying that other Americans are void of the talent to pull off a southern accent, but many of them do butcher it. I don't know if I explained it well enough, but its just easier and comes more natural to the brits.
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Are you talking about the Old South accent? Only a few people talk like that around here. A good example of the Old South accent is Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday. Scarlett just sounded like she was from current South Georgia or Alabama.
shareHad this discussion about accents on another site. What can possibly be thornish about ACTORS (regardless of where they come from) portraying characters different from themselves, even if that entails flying across the pond (in either direction), especially where there are more similarities than differences? Is this not part of what acting is all about? I honestly didn't know until recently that Carey Grant was from England...I'm younger, so I never saw his movies in theaters, of course, but I have seen them on TV. It wasn't until I watched The Holiday that I realized he was from England. And it matters not in the least. I'm from the southern states in America, and from a Scotch-Irish/English descent, and feel that the accent I possess came from this heritage somehow, so what's the big deal? I like the idea of us being "one" world instead of "us and them..." I wish that concept could spread a little more...
shareAnthony Hopkins was born in Wales NOT England.
shareomg i was just going to say that-your right the boyo is welsh :) and plus i dont think a southern accent is easy especially as the louissiana accent is a bit different, even more difficult, both law and winslet gave it their best shots but i wasnt convinced :)
To Die Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure!
I don't understand the emphasis on the nationality of the various actors. In my opinion, some of the worst accents came from American actors eg. James Gandolfini. Sure, Anthony Hopkins wasn't really trying and Kate Winslet sounded very generic american but Jude Law was pretty good, and no worse than Sean Penn or Mark Ruffalo. It's not much harder for someone with a natural british accent to play a southerner than is for a Bostonian or a New Yorker. Why make it a UK vs US thing when the real problem is locals vs non-locals?
Maybe your question should be 'did we run out of Southern actors?' And the answer to that is probably 'yes'.
Jude Law was pretty GOOD??
I only realized halfway through the movie that he was attempting to speak in a Southern accent.
I think that the Irish greatly influenced us Southerners. Just listen to the music, a lot of upbeat, quick, jig-like fiddle music.
I have only three things to say...
1)Kevin Costner "This is English Courage" (Robin Hood Prince of Thieves)
2) Keanu Reeves "Oiy nowe weer the bohrstard sleeps!" (Dracula)
3) Hopkins was born in Wales.
Oh, four things to say: 4) Jennifer Jones in 'Gone to Earth'
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I agree. Although Depp's Scottish accent as J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland was exquisite!
shareI also disagree with people who want to make it about "British Actors".
As a matter of fact, there were 3 American Actors (Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini & Mark Ruffalo) who failed just as miserably at the accent.
In fact, the accents were probably the only thing that bugged me about this movie.
There are actually a lot of great actors who unfortunately couldn't do an accent to save their lives.
That's why the director should always supply a vocal coach for the actors.
That way, great performances like these would come across to the audience the way they were meant to.
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I think Penn's was pretty bad, too, but I was also unconvinced by Patricia's.
Her accent just sounded flat to me (LOL, regardless of where she was born).
Kathy Baker's accent was the only one that rang true.
I'm from south Georgia. I have to say the traditional "southern accent", is gone, with some exceptions. Although a little southern drawl is still heard from time to time, depending on how deep you go into the woods, hehe. Southern accents have practically faded away. But Louisiana seems to still hold a strong traditional accent.
The fact is, there is no north and south anymore. These days everybody is so spread out that you don't even notice there is a difference if you were to come down here. There's more yankees down here than there is up north, and the other way around.
Out of both actors and actresses, there is only "one" that does the best job I have ever seen when it comes to accents and that's Cate Blanchett, she's amazing and it seems that she can do any accent, she's done southern, irish, yankee, you name it.