MovieChat Forums > Empire Falls (2005) Discussion > Did anyone else think that They overdid ...

Did anyone else think that They overdid the Boston Accents at Times?


I understand that they were in Maine...but at times they had real heavy accents, and a lot of people i know from Maine don't. Some of my friends don't even have accents and we live close to Boston...maybes its jsut me i guess

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The accents are terrible, I agree. I have lived in Maine my entire life and do NOT sound like these people. It's an interesting story for the most part, and Tick has the best accent of all. Helen Hunt's accent? Terrible. Almost as bad as the accents in Mystic River, when Sean Penn tries SO hard to have a N.E accent but fails miserably.

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There hasn't been one movie that has hit the maine accent right on. Even Stephen King's movies, so if you know that going in you won't be dissapointed.

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Oh God... Storm of the Century? Worsts accents ever.

No one's ever nailed the Maine accent because very few people have a Maine accent. The people in Maine with these accents all work at "the yahd", BIW.

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"Oh God... Storm of the Century? Worsts accents ever."

Have you ever been to the area on which Littletall Island is based? Jonesport/Beals Island/Machias are full of people with thick, heavy Mainah accents. It's a pretty accurate representation. My mother was born and raised in Jonesport... My grandmother never saw outside the town limits during her life. As a result I know the area quite well and the accents weren't overdone at all. In fact, I felt they could have been thicker.

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don't long time residents of Beal's Island have kind of an Irish influence to their accent?...

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I disagree. Helen Hunt's accent was dead-on. I'm from that area, too, and she sounds like someone from inland Maine. The coast has a different accent than the rest of the state even though Hollywood wants us to believe everyone has a downeaster accent.

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Helen Hunts was the worst. she had absoulutley no R's in any of her words.

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The only person who ever nailed the Mass. accent was David Ogden Steirs in the TV show M*A*S*H*. His upper crust Bostonian accent was dead on accurate.

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As a girl born & raised in S.E. Mass who lived in Maine for 5 years, I am always amazed that otherwise competent actors can't get a handle on the N.E. accent. Give me a beer and ask me to say "retarded" and my accent comes up from long-buried depths.

I think Ed Harris does a passable job, though it took some getting used to. Philip Seymour Hoffman's accent makes me want to take my ears off and recalls Rob Morrow "I-learned-this-accent-from-listening-to-Kennedy-impersonators" in Quiz Show. I actually know people who sound just like Helen Hunt, unfortunately. What freaked me out about more was her ropy neck in this role.

The inconsistency of the accents, however, (some characters have one, some don't) is right on the mark.

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The accents in Empire Falls are Horrible, for a good Maine accent watch On Golden Pond, and listen to Charlie The Mailman, as played by William Lanteau.

Possibly a little over the top, but there are definitely Mainers, esp. year round lake inhabitants back then that sound exactly like that.

It frustrated me so much that they even attempted those accents. I mean...whats the point. Russo's book is so amazing, and it could have taken place anywhere. Why they decided to shoot this in ugly Waterville Maine (my hometown) is beyond me.

See "Nobody's Fool" for an example of a Russo novel done right. They missed the tone, they missed on the look, they missed on the accents, they missed capturing the beauty and complex characters of the novel. All in all...they missed with Empire Falls.

Oh what could have been...

Disgruntled in Central Maine,
Greg

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I absolutely agree that "Nobody's Fool" was a Russo novel done right. With regards to accent, however, that location was supposed to be upstate New York.

I suppose they shot "Empire Falls" in "ugly Waterville" because Empire Falls is supposed to be an ugly down and almost out mill town.

Come read the site: http://www.FeralFiction.com

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There's a few good ones and one great one. Ed Harris does a pretty good job as miles, Aiden Quinn's is fairly accurate as Max, and Fichtner is good as Jimmy Minty. Jeffrey DeMunn however is absolutely spot on as a Mainer playing Horace. My grandfather is from Maine and I think Horace might be his twin.

"I've got your Gin card right here" - great line

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Wasn't supposed to be a Boston accent but some kind of inland Maine accent

I think Estelle Parsons did a right fair job of it. At least she had the pacing down.

It was not my impression that Hoffman was trying to do an accent. Helen Hunt sounded like a New Yorker trying to inpersonate a Maine accent based on listening to old Bert and I records

My vote for worst Maine Accent was The male lead in "Murder, She wrote" although there was a made for TV or Video Disney Movie that was supposed to take place on an island in Maine where every one had an Irish Accent.

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yeha but they're accents were more boston than maine

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The inconsistency was actually okay, because I live in Maine and don't have the accent, but there are certainly people I know in Maine who DO have it. However, yes, most of the accents were attempted poorly.

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Jeffrey DeMunn's (Horace, the newspaper editor's) Maine accent sounded half-way correct. I'm not from there, but my wife is and I've spent a bit of time in State...the Augusta/Gardiner area. For a while, in fact, she lived in Waterville.

Come read the site: http://www.FeralFiction.com

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Yep. I've always liked DeMunn...one of those great character actors everyone always says of, "...oh it's THAT guy!" Well, keeps you working, anyway!

Come read the site: http://www.FeralFiction.com

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Just thank your lucky stars they didn't get it right. Good Gawd, my Uncle Ken is from Albion, real close to Waterville and I can hardly understand him most of the time.

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Born in Waterville, From Augusta, lived in Maine all my life.

I didn't think the accents were bad at all. Danielle's accent was awesome, many of the younger Mainers don't have accents. I find it interesting that people are saying that the accents were over the top. My relatives are from Washington county and if those accents were used in the film you'd need subtitles because you would understand every tenth word or so.

For my money the best "Maine accent film" is Delores Claiborne. They got the Jonesport/Beals Island accent down cold!

Brit.

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(born & raised just outside Boston, and my Mom now lives in Central Maine - about 20 miles from Skowhegan / Waterville, as a matter of fact!)
I was JUST going to say that! Kathy Bates (Dolores Claiborne)is the only one who has ever even come close....David Strathairn who played her husband, he did good as well.

some of the worst are actually in Perfect Storm - Mark Wahlberg sounded AWFUL (Dude! you're FROM here! how can you screw that up)

The accents (or lack of) in Empire Falls didn't bug me as much, mostly because they were inconsistent.

I never expect good N.E. type accents, so i'm never usually let down by them when they're bad!

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I was born in Waterville ME. still live here. I don't think the accent is done on propose. It is just the way are brought up to talk just like the south has there accent and Minn. has theres we have ours. You want a maine accent got up to "The County" or Northern Maine. I have friends from PA. they come up in the summer they tell me I have a bad Maine accent but don't here it because that is the way people sound around this area.

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We New Englanders need to lighten up about this stuff. As hard as it is to believe what comes naturally to many of us is harder for others the fact remains that it is.

People are clueless about the accent who don't come from here, going so far as to see people IN THE MEDIA say that the Kennedys and or John Kerry have "Boston accents" that it just isn't worth investing annoyance with.

I'm never really got an accent of any real strong noticability and now that I live outside of New England I certainly don't have one. I'm probably better than most at it but to really sound authentic it has to be garnered through getting drunk with people speaking it I've learned. That's the easiest way.

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I thought that they weren't bad at all. Helen Hunt's was more Boston. Sometimes they were off and on - but mine is too sometimes, depending where I am and who I'm talking to.

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The Maine accent must be one of the hardest to do, because it is VERY often messed up by hollywood. It either sounds like a garbled Boston accent, the Kennedy accent, or even a hybrid NY-Boston accent, which it clearly is not.

Film is a cornerstone of any good life.

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