All The King's Men

[Deleted]

It's the "Vivien Leigh Syndrome." Remember Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind?
In the case of this movie I think it's a bit overdone.

[Wol]

I believe the rather misguided theory behind casting Brits to play roles with an American dialect is that if they are playing Southern or another sound that is distinctive to the American ear they have to affect an accent rather than a more neutral American sound, which for most Brits usually sounds mid-Atlantic (i.e. Kate Winslet in "Titanic," who sounded very little like Leo but it worked because the sound difference could be attributed to class difference. What she does in "Little Children" should be interesting). The thinking is the public will accept them working with a regional accent because they already have a regional accent, at least to an American ear. Also most producers/executive equate British with classy and theatrically trained, which is not always the case, but usually is. But I can't imagine anyone having a problem with Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Anthony Hopkins being in the cast of their film.

The only Brits I've ever heard capture an accentless neutral speech, to an American ear, are Gary Oldman and Tim Roth.

[Deleted]

Funny, about the whole British actors playing Southerners, Leah Rozen rated their accents, and according to her, the only one who did a passable job was Jude Law. Apparently Anthony Hopkins doesn't even bother trying, while Winslet's accent "comes and goes, but mostly goes."

I've never really noticed accents in films, unless they're really awful, and the New Orleans accent is really difficult to imitate.

[Deleted]

Winslet is damned lazy when it comes to American accents. Her "one size fits all" approach may be consistent, but it's a generic dialect that she always sticks to. If she had to do a Boston accent or a Texas accent, you'd still get that same generic mid-western accent that she must have picked up from watching episodes of Smallville or something.

I've always found Winslet a tad techincally limited and overrated, so I'm glad some of her limitations are finally being picked up on. Unfortunately, it won't last, because everyone will be right back to kissing her ass as soon as Little Children turns up (and I'm pretty certain she'll be using the same 'ol generic mid-western accent).

[iClaudia]

Well, I went ahead and saw this after netflixing the original. I don't know which was more true to the book but the original was successful as a movie and this version was not. The changes they made took the movie in a more cliched and soapy direction. The original was more nuanced and the directing more careful. The Willie Stark character took the biggest hit as he is not as complex a character in this version and you never really have the opportunity to root for him as you do in the original. The last 30 minutes of this one is where the film really went into the dumpster. Most of the rest was just mediocre.

The acting was fine all the way around but no performances really stood out. Penn definitely needed to be reigned in and the only scene of his that I really liked was the one scene where the performance was quieter. Only one of the scenery chewing speeches really added anything to the movie. Everyone else was as you wuld expect them to be - none really stretching beyond what we've seen them do before (though in their defense, what they were given to work with wasn't all that challenging). As for the accents, Winslet and Hopkins didn't even really bother, Law did pretty well but slipped out on occasion and Penn was the most consistent. None seemed really authentic but I'm no expert on Louisiana accents.

ETA: I forgot to mention that I got a kick out of seeing figure skater Nicole Bobek in a non-speaking part. She looks good with dark hair.

[orchidthief]

wol said:

I believe the rather misguided theory behind casting Brits to play roles with an American dialect is that if they are playing Southern or another sound that is distinctive to the American ear they have to affect an accent rather than a more neutral American sound, which for most Brits usually sounds mid-Atlantic (i.e. Kate Winslet in "Titanic," who sounded very little like Leo but it worked because the sound difference could be attributed to class difference. What she does in "Little Children" should be interesting).

I don't really have an opinion on Kate's Philadelphian accent in Titanic. I've heard some people say that there's a British twang to it. And then, there are some defenders who say that the accent for Philadelphia's upper class socialites, circa 1912, sounded semi-British.

Who knows which camp is right?