Do You Agree? This Movie Missed the Mark With the Boston Accent
Now, I've seen many movies that are based in Boston (or even just New England), as I'm sure you have as well. There are some amazing movies based in Boston, and some of the most well-known ones are "Mystic River", "The Town," "The Departed," "Good Will Hunting," and "Ted." There are, however, a lot more movies set in the city or around Boston, MA.
Now, I will not go into every movie as we could literally be here all day. However, being raised in New England, we know that the majority of us have an "accent." The Boston accent, as we've come to learn, is well known and the reason behind it could be because of these films.
An accent where we get rid of the final letter "r" that makes "car" sound like "cah." The Boston accent also pronounces some short vowel sounds a little differently and we at times will add the "r" sound at the end of words.
When it comes to watching movies that are set in New England, I have a high expectation that the accent will be spot on, I mean that's why directors bring linguists on movie sets. I've learned not to always expect a perfect or decent, or even an accent at all when it comes to every New England-based movie, and it is really because of one film.
The movie that I believe missed the mark when it comes to the Boston accent is "The Heat."
I was really excited about this movie as it has an amazing cast, including Melissa McCarthy, Sandra Bullock, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport, Ben Falcone, Kaitlin Olson, and Bill Burr (just to name a few). I didn't know how disappointed I would be during and after watching this movie, at least by the lack of accent used.
In case you haven't watched "The Heat," it came out back in 2013 and was about an FBI Special Agent and a hot-tempered detective trying to solve a case and capture a drug lord in Boston.
For your visual pleasure, the trailer is below:
The detective, played by McCarthy, was raised in Boston, heck she lived there her entire life as did her family. What became really disappointing was that McCarthy did not even attempt to have a Boston accent.
Now, before you come at me saying that not everyone in New England has the accent, I understand that completely and even stated that earlier. However, when the character's entire family has a strong accent, it's safe to assume that her character would too.
Just how strong is her family's accent, well, here's another clip for you.
All in all, I feel that it would have made more sense for McCarthy's character to have or at least attempt the accent, there were definitely people there that could have helped her with it. Who knows, it may have added more to the storyline or even made the movie even funnier than it was.