MovieChat Forums > The Whole Nine Yards (2000) Discussion > What are the accents in this movie

What are the accents in this movie

posted 19 years ago by noe112001
17 replies | jump to latest

I guess Sophie (Rosanna Arquette) is supposed to be a French accent, barely. What about Janni (Kevin Pollak)? Sounds guttural, germanic maybe.

(Of course Jimmy is kind of a Bruce Willis accent :)

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Ruby_in_zoisite 19 years ago

But Yanni's accent is more like russian or something like that... american movies tend to use this kind of accent for Hungarian characters (for example in "I Spy"), but that's not authentic...(I'm Hungarian, so I can judge that for sure)

[–] Fergiesjunk 19 years ago

That accent the wife does is more of a France, french accent. She sounds nothing like a Quebecer.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] beautiful__disaster 18 years ago

seriously. she did not do her homework.

[–] dio52 18 years ago

it's a comedy. her accent is supposed to be over the top.

[–] mtetraul 18 years ago

not only was arquette's accent over-the-top.. it was downright painful to listen to. also, the accent of the mob boss is inconsistent and annoying.

[–] unreal_boy4924 15 years ago

Says who? You? Okay Mr I-know-everything-about-comedies

[–] abzurd 18 years ago

Apparently, the production hired a dialect coach but she said she didn't need one.

[–] DelightfulVegetables 18 years ago

I agree. I know a girl from Quebec that comes down and visits every summer, we're very close. Her accent is very similar to Sophie's in the movie. I could be wrong, it's been a couple months since I've heard a French-Canadian accent.
The weird thing is that Sophie looks and acts EXACTLY like my friend. Even the things she says-- "You're secret's safe with me, sexy!" I laugh so hard at that part.

You can take your little white loafers
and walk out the door!

[–] abzurd 18 years ago

I don't know where your friend is from, but around Montreal, where the action takes place, nobody has an accent like that.

I mean, it's totally random, not even French.

[–] priestpilot 17 years ago

Even though I've been speaking English since I was like 8, I apparently have a slight French Canadian accent. I am not from Québec, but I don't sound anything like that! I do have cousins from Québec, but they don't sound anything like that when they try to speak English. Like you said abzurd, it's not even French...random is a better way to put it! I am horrible at accents though, I do a terrible British or American accent! It sounds random as well lol.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] abzurd 18 years ago

Well, she tried a French Canadian accent. But she failed miserably.

[–] viroo_wonder 17 years ago

ok, it's not THAT bad! It's a little too France french than it should be but it's not that bad. My mom, when she tries to talk in english sounds mostly like that, and we're from quebec. I think it depends from a person to another. Accent differ from a person to an other , so there, anyway, it's just a movie ,no need to get crazy about it either!

[–] tincel1372 15 years ago

It says it's supposed to be Hungarian.

[–] ImGergely 8 years ago

As a Hungarian, I can say it's not that bad most of the time for a Hungarian accent as I didn't notice the harsh Slavic accent they usually use instead of a Hungarian one. The word /jɪmɪ/ sounds close to what a Hungarian child would read for Jimmy except for they'd read /jɪmmɪ/. But no grown-up would say that as there's no such a Hungarian name, only Imre or Imi /ɪmɪ/ and János or Jani /jɑnɪ/. Also "ye know I got this same car[e]" /keər/ or "don't blong" were something we would not only not say, but hardly understand. If you want to fake a Hungarian accent, use the word auto instead of car /kʌr/ and use "don't [/dont/ with a hard t and no diphthong] be for too much" instead of "don't stay long". :) No diphthongs, v instead of w, d and t instead of ð and θ (th), and always emphasize the first syllable of /of/ every word.