First, I really enjoyed this film (7/10). Great atmosphere, interesting story and solid acting by Forest Whitaker again (Ghost Dog is still my favorite of his).
But...what's with the accent? It sounded Irish!
Why was he the only one with that accent? I found it really irritating.
Anyone else not like (or did like) the use of an accent for him?
Ok, I liked the movie for the most part.
The accent was very annoying but still watchable.. but that
was not a minnesota accent. I've lived in MN my entire life
and I've never heard anyone talk like that.
Well, that was absurd, let's eat dead bird!
Whatever that accent was it was intolerable.
shareI agree; the accent was unbearable and painful to sit through. I also agree with whomever said the movie Fargo nailed it with the Minnosotan accents-this movie-NOT. Plus, WHY was he the only one with that God-awful accent in the first place? I love him as an actor, but this was extremely over the top. This makes me thing of when ppl were criticising Lawrence Fishburne's Bostanian accent in Mystic River.
I work best under your skin.
I just thought Whitaker was playing the character as an Irish immigrant who's been living and working in Minnesota for a number of years; enough time for him to pick up some "you bet-chas" in his speech. I think it adds to a sense of alienation the character has. I mean he's already (extremely) socially awkward and lonely. I didn't find it annoying; but then I'm a huge Forest Whitaker fan.
--------------
"Freedom isn't the choice the world encourages." Brian Morton
The accent was no big deal. Lots of people talk funny. I thought it was cute and a nice quirk to a weird character. Nothing to be offended about.
Yeah. That was strange. First he didn't have an accent, then towards the end he suddenly has an Irish accent, so does the schoolteacher... and some other minor character I believe.
shareThere's not a chance on the frozen tundra that was an attempt at a Minnesota accent. At least that's what I want to say. But at the scene in the diner the waitress asks if he's from up north and he says yes. Holy crap. If anything, it was a horrendous Irish accent, and it was an entirely arbitrary and silly distraction. Fail, fail, fail.
A number of minor characters had random accents too. The coroner had a thick vaguely East bloc sound. The school teacher had a Scottish accent. The woman who walked him to the bizarre cemetery in the sand (were they using props from "High Plains Drifter?) had sort of a forced southern accent.
I'm guessing every scene with actors was shot in Iceland, and it's doubtful a single Minnesotan was in this film.
For those who think the Minnesota accents in "Fargo" were spot-on… they were highly exaggerated caricature accents, and if you tried, you couldn't find a single person in Minneapolis/St. Paul who sounded like that. You'd have to go to a small town somewhere, and even then very few have anything like the "Minnesota" accent people think they know.