if i am watching a movie and a character with a bad southern accent enters a scene, i lose a lot of respect for the actor playing this role. if this character with a bad southern accent plays a prominent role in the film, i am unable to get over this and begin to hate the movie. what are these directors thinking? you aren't kidding us. i'd rather have an unknown actress from the region the film is set in than a famous actress who has to fake it. perhaps i am in the minority here.
case in point: last night i watched elizabethtown, an okay movie that certainly entertained me, but kirsten dunst's poor attempt at a southern accent ANNOYED THE CRAP OUT OF ME and caused me to dislike the movie. and this wasn't just a bad southern accent, it was SOMETIMES a bad southern accent, sometimes no accent at all. and that is a worse sin. and then the plot line moved from "improbable" to "inconceivable" and i had to stop myself from rolling my eyes so hard that i gave myself a headache. good music, entertaining movie, but friends: it is not worth seeing.
have you ever seen songcatcher? this movie IS AMAZING and you need to put it in your netflix queue pronto. one of the best parts of this movie: the girl (played by emmy rossum, who is from NEW YORK CITY) has the most believable appalachian mountain accent i have ever heard. i'd never heard of the actress when i saw the movie, and my initial thought was "where did they find this mountain girl?" IT IS THAT BELIEVABLE. and for that reason, among many others, songcatcher > elizabethtown.
Well, I've never seen Songcatcher, but I can say with certainty that it's better than Elizabethtown because that is, quite possibly, the worst movie I've ever seen. I agree that Dunst's attempt at a southern accent is laughable, but there are so many other reasons that movie sucks. I remember when it came out... we were sooo excited to see it and it was such a huge disappointment-- wish I could've saved you the two hours of your life you won't get back. :) At least the soundtrack is really good!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the Songcatcher endorsement: a little-known but well made movie. The ballad coach (and probably language coach) for the movie was Sheila Kay Adams, who lives in Madison County (just north of Asheville). SKA is from a family of traditional ballad singers and storytellers, and she teaches singing and banjo playing at various music camps througout the country (including Swannanoa Gathering). She also has a bit part in the movie: she is the banjo player in the dance scene.
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