wow... awful. i'm very sorry to Mr. Hartnett because he's very cute on screen and in person (I met him at a Kerry Rally in Iowa City in 2004), but come on. He was good in "The Faculty". Excellent in "Wicker Park", but there are some people who should never attempt an accent that isn't their own. For example: Colin Firth in "A Thousand Acres". The accent was soupy at best and no one could tell if he was trying to do an impression of an Iowan farmer or he just had a frog up his ass. Kate Hudson in "About Adam". I was so distracted by her failure to even grace an Irish accent that I didn't even realize how bad the movie was in the first place... ANY OTHERS??
well I thought Gwyneth's accent/ or voice in general in the movie proof was utterly annoying- she just sounded lazy and dejected- as her character was supposed to be in the beginning but it seemed too frumpy of a voice for her in general- like it was acted and not natural. Did anybody else notice that?
I suppose a Yorkshire accent is hard for an American to do...it's bad enough when non-Yorkshire Brits try it, so good on Josh for trying...he sounded a bit Irish to me half the time.
Re jhnmchnry's comment: "doing a Dick Van Dyke" has entered the lexicon, as in "doing an awful accent"--whether that accent be Cockney/Yorkshire/Liverpudlian/Hebridean etc. Poor Dick. (To my mind, that takes nothing away from M-Poppins as a movie, though. They don't make corn like they used to.)
I'm not surprised that Josh would be accent-challenged. His forte is more kinetic. It's crazy he was cast for the role that a Brit should've played. His voice-over work in The Black Dahlia almost singlehandedly ruined the movie. Speak less, Joshie!
"I'm not surprised that Josh would be accent-challenged. His forte is more kinetic. It's crazy he was cast for the role that a Brit should've played. His voice-over work in The Black Dahlia almost singlehandedly ruined the movie. Speak less, Joshie!"
Hartnett's forte is physicality, no doubt about that. He is a poor character actor, with ridiculous dramatic facial expressions and the speeches are often wooden. And yeah, his accent sucked in Blow Dry and so did his performance.
However, I have to disagree with the voice-overs in Black Dahlia. That was actually one of the only good things about this otherwise bland film. His timbre was actually *perfect* for a modern noir film. Very spot-on. The lack of expression was again very appropriate since it examplifies the wooden acting of old films.
That's what I was thinking. I was laughing through most of it, it was that bad. And I'm Canadian. But I applaude him for trying, I would never even attempt it. And besides taht aspect, the rest of the movie was good. So it's not like he ruined the movie or anything.
Worst fake accent i've EVER heard, he makes Jason Stathams fake American accent sound good. Hes also a very overated actor, he rarely plays any role that requires emotional scences and his acting seems robotic to me, or its like hes reading of cue cards and isn't a good presenter, the amount of money producers have to pay to get him is ridiculous, when for the same price you can get a much more talented actor. Hes mostly only hired for his looks in my opinion.
>>>>he rarely plays any role that requires emotional scences and his acting seems robotic to me, or its like hes reading of cue cards and isn't a good presenter, the amount of money producers have to pay to get him is ridiculous, when for the same price you can get a much more talented actor. Hes mostly only hired for his looks in my opinion.<<<<
I just watched Mozart & the Whale with Josh Hartnett in it and it was amazing. His acting was raw and emotional...and his looks certainly didn't hurt. It was a nice change from the usual rubbish I see him in. You should check it out.
I agree,but funny too. I got Blow Dry out from the library today,and got home from college and practically burst out laughing! His accent was half Keighley,a quarter Irish and the rest a mish mash of Newcastle and American!
Orlando Bloom's 'American' accent in Elizabeth Town was... Oh God, I have no words. Ditto Nicole Kidman in The Translator. Is it just me, or do the Australians seem to do Birtish and American accents the best? Even though Nicole's 'South African' accent made me tear up, both her English and American accents are brilliant. Same can be said for Naomi Watts.
his accent was horrific, although the movie was quite good i thought i never look a hartnett the same again but he has pulled it back a bit with movies like sin city and lucky number slevin
It wasn't the worst false accent I've ever heard, but it was pretty amusing none-the-less. You wonder how a director would be happy having someone with that bad an accent appear in their film, but perhaps, as suggested they got him as part of a studio deal, and doubtless his looks would've been useful for publicity; I mean, look who's on the cover of the DVD instead of the more acclaimed actors like Rickman or Richardson. You do wonder why they couldn't have gotten a Yorkshire lad to play the part instead, because Hartnett was only very good in the scenes where he said next to nothing!
It was one of the most bizarre accents I've ever heard! Being Irish I'd be in tune to awful attempts at an Irish accent. Tom Cruise in Far and Away springs to mind. But at least his accent, though awful, was pretty consistent. Josh Hartnett's, on the other hand, was just a random mish-mash of varying sounds and dialects. He doesn't seem to be gifted with accents at all, at least not with ones more alien to American ears. Still, it was amusing, and he pulled out a decent performance accent aside. I think that it's safe to assume that he won't be taking any more roles for a character from that area of the globe!
I really wish i'd seen this film now, I'm from yorkshire and I just can't imagine hartnett doing the accent well. As someone pointed out most non-yorkshire brits can't do it so he's no chance.
to the untrained ear his voice is Brit enough to pass. it's only those that know the various sounds (such as native brits) that could pick up the slips.
at least with Rachel they set up her character to make it acceptable that she sound like herself.
my bigger beef is that it was a British story, set in Britain, and they felt the need to bring in an American actor for a lead at all (excusing Rachel since her character was supposed to be half American). Couldn't they find a Brit to play the role. Follow the example of the Harry Potter films (which have made it a practice if not a firm rule to hire only British or Commonwealth actors for the leads and strong supporting roles). Wasn't that post the filming of Lord of the Rings. Billy or Dominic probably could have done just as fine a job. Or there's a half dozen kids that played minor roles in Harry Potter that probably could have done it and so on.
Because it's a lazy Saturday I am roaming IMDb, reading comments and this is the first I've left. Why? Because this is about the first post since I felt inspired to get an account here that isn't laced with sniping and insults.
I'm an American from California - admittedly an untrained ear - and personally agree with the person who said he sounded more Irish than British. Then again, I don't know the ins and outs of the dialects, and the majority of our "British" cinema here has accents from London. I agree that a little known actor from Britain would have done much better.
Rachael's character, now that you brought up she was supposed to be half -American - oh, so ridiculous that was! I didn't even remember, because I liked her character the least out of the movie.
Now I'm off to reply to the one about people not being able to distinguish regional American accents. I promise to be nice.
It was even more confusing because it would have made a bit more sense if he'd at least tried to emulate Alan Rickman's accent. Even if it was wrong regionally it would have been better.
I'm watching this movie right now, and it's the worst accent I've ever heard. I can't even suspend my disbelief for one sentence because he switches dialects with every word!
Although I think Josh Harnett has failed to live up to the promise he seemed capable of in his early TV days, to his credit, I must sadly say he sounded like every Bradford teenager I have ever met.
As an American living in England, it was posh Natasha Richardson who sounded false to me. She is a wonderful actress but I did not believe her accent for a minute.
his accent was not just bad but really bloody bad. was there no dialect coach there???? he didn't even sound close to a Keighley accent. i love this movie (idk why) but everytime i hear him talk it makes me cringe a little
His accent was very similar to the cringeworthy efforts of Brad Pitt in snatch. Every time Josh Harnett spoke it made me wince it was so bad. That said, considering this is a film about hairdressers! It was great!! :D
He doesn't seem to be gifted with accents at all, at least not with ones more alien to American ears
Until you said 'atleast ones more alien to american ears' you sounded a little unfair. As Brits we've been accustomed to American films our whole lives yet we still divide the entire nation into 2 distinct accents, the clear american-accent we hear in most films and the southern drawl found in southern movies yet I bet the US has dozens and dozens of different accents. Yet we still wouldn't differentiate between a westcoast and an eastcoast US accent let alone the difference between Boise- Idaho and Detroit- Michigan. And that's us, the world that has grew up with American films yet we still hear American as American so we have no right to slap Josh for trying a Yorkshire accent unless 'Last of the summer wine' has been the highest viewed british sitcom in america for the past few decades. Maybe it's just me but I'm pretty sure it hasn't.
He could have did a british movie doing a typical london accent like Gwyneth Paltrow and Renee Zellwegger pull off so well or he could have went the standard "American" route and assumed that all English people sound like Posh twats with broomhandles up their arses like Angie Pitt does in Tomb Raider.
But he didn't. He attempted an accent that is completely alien to the average American's ears and he may not have pulled it off but he gave it an amazing shot in my eyes.. ears... opinion ;)
Britain is odd accent-wise. You have londoner, cockney londoner, south londoner, brummie, scouser, geordie, manc, west country, yorkshire, norfolk, welsh, cardiff welsh, northern irish/ulster, glaswegian, tayside, scottish lowland and scottish highland and not one of them even sounds remotely similar despite geordies and tayside sharing the word 'bairn' ;)
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Sorry, but I have this film on now and I really cannot take it seriously because of Josh Harnett. His accent is so bad that it's actually distracting me and making me ignore the action in the scenes he is in.
I don't entirely agree with the previous post which said that Britain's tend to only understand two types of American accent, in general we know most of the dialects, from New York to New England. Although I will admit (in general) we find it hard to pick out a Canadian accent from an American crowd.
I will agree that (for an American) to put on a Northern accent is extremely hard, but really Josh Harnett should have been auditioned more on this aspect before they hired him for this role - it absolutely ruins the film, he sounds Irish most of the time! The director must have either been insane or pulling his hair out (which was quite apt!) - during filming they would have known the critics would have torn the film apart because of it!
I also don't agree that Brad Pitt's accent in Snatch was bad - it was actually spot on. He was playing a full on Pikey, that's exactly how they talk. God knows how he researched that accent! Also, I don't agree with the point that British characters should only be played by British actors, I like that idea for the Harry Potter films because it maintains it as such a British franchise (even though its US money funding it), but in general a part should be cast with an actor who fits the role and can pull it off. Josh Harnett in this film is a bad example, but British people cannot say only British people should play British parts. If every country did that our actors would be screwed! Welsh roles in US thrillers and dramas would be particularly thin on the ground for Catherine Zeta Jones and Anthony Hopkins, There aren't many big budget Hollywood blockbusters that require native Scots (so that's Ewan McGreggor and Sean Connery out) and Kate Winslet, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson and Judi Dench would have to stick to wearing corsets if they wanted work! I think Hugh Grant and Arnold Schwazenager would be the only actors who are allowed to keep their accents no matter what they were playing!
Sorry OS, can't agree with you there. I thought his accent was excellent....I've spoken to many a 'pikey' (there's plenty where I live in NW London), and that is just how they sound..... :o)
I'm watching now and think you're being really harsh. i'm a Brit and i think Josh did a pretty good job at the Yorkshire accent. i loved this film it's great when a film gets a great eclectic mix of actors in it of different nationalaties. a great Saturday afternoon watch!
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.