ok, for the love of God, why has no-one mentioned the 5 worst cases in film history?? incidentally, you might dont a trend here...is the irish accent just that frickin hard to manage??! ANSWER: GET IRISH ACTORS!!
THOSE WHO DIDNT MAKE IT INTO THE ANNALS, BUT GAVE IT THEIR BEST SHOT:
Sean Connery in best runner up really, with many many offenses... but the Untouchables and def the Hunt for Red October...an Irishman with the most diddly-eiddle te-tay-te-tay name and accent imaginable, and a Scottish Russian?? speaking Russian??! -shudder-
Leo di Caprio not far behind with a performance in Gangs of New York that defies explanation. I mean...like....even now, i'm speechless with disgust.
5- Renee Zellweger for her crime against a perfectly good book, and lets face it, fairly easy accent: GET A BRITISH BRIDGET HELEN FIELDING!! COME ON WOMAN!! Renee, get some lessons from your buddy Gwyneth. There's brits who think she's one of them...More brit than the brits, and probably a damn sight nicer in fairness.
4- Chris O Donnell - a career deservedly languishing in hollywood pergatory after 'Circle of FrienRAB.' Minnie Driver is also implicated in this by the way, although she at least had the decency to be convincingly fat...
3- Kevin Spacey in Ordinary Decent Criminal...a crime against the Irish nation. We burned this at public meetings (not really..)
2- Linda Fiorentino in the abovementioned filmic travesty. I dont know was she trying to be a man or what, but in my (lifelong) experience of living in Dublin, I have yet to meet anyone, male or female, with an accent like that. Its like a verbally stunted ape grunting during the mating season. Seriously. And even they manage the slang better. Jay-sus is all i can say. Get it together woman, and...seriously, dont quit the day (time TV) job
1- It was a close one with Fiorentino, but the winner is......
Carrie Henn as Newt in Aliens: 'They mooestly come at night, mooestly..' For the love of God, where was she going with the accent? think i was the only one glad to see the character killed off in alien 3. couldnt take any more. (prob, in retrospect, shoudnt have watched the bloody movies at all)
by the way this eternally tragic line was made famous for a new generation of the aurally intolerant by none other than Cartman...
Conclusion? 'Darby O'Gill and the little people' has a lot to answer for. Yes Sean C, I'm looking at you. You know we have got motorways and computers here?? and we dont still trek across the atlantic looking for a new aul plot of ground to throw down a few spuRAB and breed like rabbits. You wouldnt guess by this lot though.
Pretty amazing really it wasnt a 'faux-gaelic' who took the top spot but we'll just have to wait for Tom Cruise to regain the desire for roots and through on his danshing shoes, colleen...