Amusingly "Off" Movie Accents

In this accent lineup there is no good or bad, just memorable and amusing...
Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine - 'Inglourious Basterds' (2009)
Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine - 'Inglourious Basterds' (2009) - Universal Pictures
Christine Champ

Much ado has often been made about movie accents that have unforgivably missed the mark -- such as Julia Roberts' maligned Irish lilt in Mary Reilly. However, on the heels of Quentin Tarantino's newly unleashed Nazi caper, we'd like to offer an alternative interpretation of some actors' unnatural speech. In some comedies, an off-kilter accent actually adds to the character's quirkiness and humor. In more serious endeavors an unintentionally poorly-rendered Scottish brogue at the very least amuses us and is memorable enough to continue to entertain us for years as fodder for various SNL and other lighthearted lampoons.

To prove our point, we celebrate some memorable accents that have long amused audiences. (Apologies to any nations insulted by our ode to actors that mangled their native tongues.)

1. Brad Pitt, Snatch
I've never met a speed-mumbling, double-dealing gypsy (if such a stereotype exists), but if I do, I hope they parley pikey with the same mischievous inscrutability and leprechaun-like levity.

Viewer Discretion Advised, Language Throughout


2. Mike Myers, So I Married an Axe Murderer
This isn't the only film where viewers have derided Myer's "sh*t" Scottish accent -- Shrek and Austin Powers drew similar scorn. Still, once you've heard it, it's hard to get his irascible da' out of your head, especially when he verbally torments his big-skulled son -- "Heed, move!" "He'll be cryin' himself to sleep tonight on his huuge pilla'..."


3. Peter Sellers, Pink Panther
Most of the time no one has any idea what he's saying, even his fellow French folk -- "does yur doog bite?" -- but it's all part of Inspector Clouseau's (and Sellers') clownish charm.


4. Sean Connery, The Untouchables
Or in Hunt for Red October as a Russian sub captain, or an English king in First Knight -- according to Connery's detractors. Chides Empire magazine, no matter the nationality of the role "always that baritone Highland burr remains." Still, that doesn't make it any less sexy, or hilarious when parodied to taunt Jeopardy's Alex Trebek on SNL.



5. Brad Pitt, Inglourious Basterds
Whether masquerading as an "Eye-talian" or representing his own "Naat-zi killin'" Tennessee self, Pitt and his Basterd alter ego, Lieutenant Aldo Raine, are experts at oddball accents. Sgt. Donowitz (Eli Roth), aka the "Bear Jew's," "eye-talian" isn't too shabby either.

6. Al Pacino, Scarface
"Ju wanna play rough? OK ... say hellooo to my leetle fren!" Was there ever a more beloved bad-guy line? If Pacino's Cuban falls short on authenticity, it makes up the difference in drug-lord cojones.



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