Poll: Worst Boston accent of 2010?
Former Saturday Night Live cast member and Massachusetts native Rachel Dratch has compiled a list of last year's Boston accents in pop culture for New York Magazine. As the feature points out, 2010 was a "remarkably active year for the Boston accent" in film, television, and online.
But just because there were a lot of people trying to speak with Boston accents doesn't mean any of them did it well.
In her analysis of her list, which I've reproduced below, Dratch is awfully generous, hardly knocking any of the actors. The Globe wasn't as kind when its critics reviewed most of the features. And I trust that you, the discerning Boston Globe reader, will be much more critical as well.
Watch the clips below (after the jump) and vote in our poll: Which film, show, or online feature produced the worst Boston accent of 2010? Feel free to leave you thoughts in the comments section, too. (You can find all of Dratch's commentary over at New York Magazine.)
"The Town"
When it premiered last September, Globe movie critic Ty Burr knocked this Ben Affleck crime drama for depending "far too much on Hollywood actors trying hahd to bend their dialogue around non-rhotic speech patterns."
Julianne Moore on "30 Rock"
The Globe's Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein called Moore's accent an "oversize effort." Her accent "is funny," they wrote, "but it’s too broad — yah cahh is ovah thayuh — to sound authentic."
"MA Men"
There's no embedable version of the video, produced by the funny people over at Funny or Die, but you can watch it here.
"Shutter Island"
In his review, Globe film critic Wesley Morris wrote that Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in the film is "hobbled by another shaky Boston accent."
"Edge of Darkness"
Mel Gibson's "Boston accent is tragic, but no worse than those of countless other actors," wrote Sam Allis in the Globe.
"The Fighter"
Ty Burr didn't mention the accents specifically in his review of the movie, but he did write that its "performances put it over." As in, the performances were good. That's about as ringing of an endorsement as anyone on this list is going to get.
"Conviction"
Hilary Swank's "frequently moist eyes suggest a woman struggling with both the law and a Massachusetts accent," wrote Wesley Morris in his review of the film.
Editors' Picks
