i thought the acting was pretty good.....
besides the fact that they had no idea how to do new orleans accents. i always hate it when movies take place in the great city of new orleans and the accents the actors use sound like they spent no time in character development.
What did you think of Dennis Quaid's accent in The Big Easy? As far as I could tell (as a non-native), it was pretty awful too.
shareNone of them were from New Orleans though, they were from Alabama and Florida.
Travolta had a good refined southern drawl i thought.
I'm from NOLA and gotta say that they did a hell of a good job and sounded just fine. The supporting actors were from NOLA too which certainly made the film authentic. It is probably the best film I've ever seen to clearly capture what it is like to live and love in New Orleans (and the Big Easy is awful and complete stereotypes of what people are like in New Orleans--not everyone there is cajun man!)
shareno they did not sound RIGHT. I am also from NOLA and i do not talk like that!
shareAs previously posted, the 3 main actors were not supposed to have been from New Orleans.
shareWhen I first moved to New Orleans in January 2002, I thought what are all these people from Boston doing in New Orleans! My husband can detect a New Orleans East accent from a West Bank New Orleans accent with ease and accuracy. I love this movie not for the accents but for the incredibly beautiful words as the story is told. Susan F/New Orleans
shareHahaha. I know this is an old post, but I had to comment on my favorite worst Nawlins accent. Quaid couldn't decide whether to use an Italianish Spanish (maybe he knew about the Islenos too), a French or Bronx accent! I know he was trying to capture the character's Cajun side , and combine it with the character's New Orleans environment. But the result was ridiculous. And even funnier was the line about one of the cities near NO--the warning about going to (which was it?) Arabi, Algiers or Chalmette, "dey'll cut ya troat and trow you in da rivah!" He could've made a hit with La. people if he'd have just used the 9t wawd or Chalmation accent.
Under our clothes, we are all naked! Bare nipples (of females), genitals or buttocks is nudity.
I hope Quaid doesn't read this, or he'll cut ya troat and trow you in da rivah! 👻
shareThey major characters were not from New Orleans. Obviously. So why would they have a La accent?
shareI'm from New Orleans and what filmakers don't realize is that NOLA is a coastal port town. We have more of am East Coast Clip than a Southern Drawl. Everyone seems to think New Orlenaeans have this moonlight magnolia Mississippi drawl. I now live in Jersey and everyone thinks I'm local because I have a simialr accent. Whenever I tell people that I'm from NOLA, they say, "You don't sound like you're from the South."
Thank you, interesting point.
The 3 Main Actors are all from New York and New Jersey, so considering that fact, I thought they did a very nice job with the accents, of course I am from Texas so what do I know about the real southern accent, Texans have a different type of southern accent which is more of a drawl, kind of a western and southern mix i guess, just like different regions of the south have different types of southern accents, people from New Orleans do not have a true southern accent but one of their own, and it is pretty unique to their area., by the way I thought John did a nice regional Texas Accent when he was much younger in Urban Cowboy, a good actor can ajust and adapt.
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Yeah, if you watch the movie and 'believe'.....really all that's important anyway.
I wish to tread lightly upon my friends but love them deeply
I missed the first part of the film, but I enjoyed it.
I'm a native of Alabama who's studied several foreign languages, been coached in standard American English pronunciation, and lived elsewhere in the U.S., so I can turn it (accent) on and off, although I default to the AL accent. I've grown resigned to hearing atrocious Southern accents in TV, films, and theater, and I didn't really notice anything amiss in this movie. An upper class lady from NO told me their accents vary from parish to parish and can depend on one's schooling (her words); hers was a cultivated Southern accent. As previous posts point out, Bobby and Lawson met at Auburn University, in south Alabama. BTW, didn't I see Pursy picking up a diploma from Duke University to toss out with Bobby and Lawson's other belongings? It must have belonged to Bobby.
A lot of younger Southerners don't have very pronounced accents at all due to the influx of northerners, foreigners, etc. to the Deep South, plus media influence. Even though stereotypical outrageous Southerners have been overdone in films, these characters were not bad at all, although of course the film addresses our favorite enduring themes of substance abuse, dysfunctional families, and (almost) incest. I had several English professors in college who, if all thrown together in a blender, would probably come out as a Bobby Long cocktail. If that metaphor makes sense.
Just out of curiosity, how were the accents in Frank's Place? I've never been to New Orleans, but the show seemed so real to me ...
shareLike i don't even know where the hell New Orleans is o.o Somewhere in America. I'm from a little country town in Far North Queensland, Australia so the accents didn't bother me. For what its worth, i think it worked well, authentic and gave the story a little background and depth. The accent was an accent...all good! ^_^
This movie rocked. I'm resisting the urge to watch it again just in case i become obbessed!
I'm a local of this region, and I agree with you 100%. There are several different brogues in and around New Orleans proper alone. Most films do portray the accent as a southern drawl which I will say only exists in the old blue-bloods of Uptown (a very small percentage). New Orleanians speak with more of a Brooklyn/Bronx accent.
shareI am also local to this region, and the accents and brogues change every block or so. Uptown New Orleanians are very "Southern" but most of the rest sound like Brooklyn. I have no idea why that is, but it is a fact. So don't expect all people in the South to sound alike. Let alone everyone in NO, which is very cosmopolitan.
shareI always thought a true NO accent had this French Creole thing going. I have many relatives in New Jersey and believe me I can differentiate between the two.
shareI've lived in Alabama all my life, and I've never had an overt Southern accent. I've even had fellow Alabamians tell me that! The accents in this movie were okay, I guess.
You can't stop me now! I'm already in my third trimester! -"Born"
If anyone is interested in "hearing" what real New Orleans speak is like, pick up a copy of "a Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. It reveals the absolute essence of The language of the Crescent City like no other film or book has ever managed to do.
The author received the Pulitzer Prize after his suicide in the 1960's. It is a true work of art.
Had to comment on these old comments. You're so right. I'm from Morgan City, and people always surprised that I don't have a Cajun accent. But MC was settled by Russian families, followed by French (Cajun and other French) then Italians. Like mine, many families have NO relatives. But in referrence to Jersey, I worked with a lady in NO who was from New Jersey. She said locals were always asking if she was from Chalmette! She got so tired explaining, she said she just say yea. One summer in Houston, a Houstonian asked my cousin if he was from New York because he'd say Mawgun City due to his father's side of the family's accent.
Under our clothes, we are all naked! Bare nipples (of females), genitals or buttocks is nudity.
Bobby, Lawson and Pursiline are all from outside the metro area, from, Alabamy so no, they're not supposed to sound like New Orleanians, but keep in mind there are lots of people from Mississippi in the metro area. If you wanna hear some awful NewOrleans accents watch Sonny starring James Franko, that movie really had it wrong regarding the New Orleans accent. In regards to south Louisiana , i always tell people South Louisiana is not part of the south, in regards to culture. This part of the south is inhabited by many french descendants and afro americans, and carpet bagging yankee descendants as well. Cajun country and Acadiana is a world onto its own, one which the feds in Washington attempted to homogeonize and had almost succeded in doing. For another set of cruel accents check out Hillary Swanks film The Reaping which is supposedly set in south Louisiana but I didnt see a coonass anywhere in there? What gived Hollywood!
shareI can't even imagine why the original poster would start this topic since Travolta was the only one who even tried speaking in a Southern accent. Scarlett used the words ya'll and ain't, the latter of which isn't even necessarily indigenous to the south, other than that Scarlett and Gabriel weren't even trying, were they?
shareThat's the point. People in New Orleans don't have 'southern' accents!!!!
shareI am from SOUTH of New Orleans. I was very impressed with the accents and the way they shot New Orleans. Being south of New Orleans I've heard the "southern drawls", And the "Cut Off, Venice accents".. you know where they say "tink" not think, and instead of air its AARRRR, Three is tree! I 've heard the "new yorky, boston" accents as well. We are a melting pot of cultures that is hard to nail, and this movie I think did the MOST justice. They shot it in N.O. with the riverbanks, rainy weather, and the old people sitting in lawn chairs cooling off in a baby pool! We do sit around in lawn chairs with beers in our hand catching up. Not necessarily everybody but a good portion. The bars in the movie's were dead on and the movie was just beautiful. Also if you are lookin for a really great southern Louisiana accent.. check out the Green Mile.. the guy who plays Eduard Delicroix "Del" NAILS it hands down.. our older folks speak JUST LIKE THAT!
shareHaha! you definitely are from Loozianna! nowhere else in the country would the term "coonass" be acceptable! you made my morning! and no, I'm not from NOLA or Louisiana, but I worked on the Mississippi Queen Years ago and heard that term constantly
In a thousand years, there will be no men and women, just wankers, and that's fine by me.
Just saw this film tonight and thought it was really good. I was born and raised in New Orleans (Uptown and Metairie), although I currently live in Texas. I thought the accents were fine, they weren't New Orleans natives anyway, and educated southerners from bama should sound that way. As for Johansen, if she was raised in New Orleans she should have more of a yat accent rather than a southern one.
For those of you who don't know what yat is, it's basically what everyone on the message board is talking about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yat_%28New_Orleans%29
That being said, I don't have an accent at all and I spent the first 19 years of my life in New Orleans. My dad was born and raised in Gretna and my mom is from Baton Rouge. Their accents have both diminished over time (my mother's is more southern belle and my dad's is full on yat). People ask me all the time why I don't sound like I'm from New Orleans because I guess they are expecting a southern drawl. I usually just tell them I don't know. I think if you go to school uptown (which was were I went) you are a lot less likely to develop one than most other places in the city, but that's just my opinion.
I'm not really bothered by the accents, usually I can't stand to hear *anyone* try to do a southern accent no matter how well they do it. It's just excruciating to listen to someone try.
"When she was good,
She was very, very good.
But when she was bad...
She was horrid."
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I agree.... Even if they were to throw in a few of "where yat's?" or, "How's your mama and dem?" Would suffice for me. I am a native New Orleanian.
shareOh, it might also be good to point out that Lawson and Bobby were from Alabama. The accents may seem similar to people who aren't from the south, but they really aren't. I didn't know that to begin with but going back and watching the film again, their accents are more properly executed. Speaking as an Alabama native. :)