15. Holly Hunter in Once Around (1991):
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What it's about: An Italian-American woman from Boston falls in love with an older man, who she soon finds out is overprotective and doesn't fit in well with her family.
Bottom line: This take on the accent (which is at 0:28) should not be taken seriously. Ever.
14. Tom Hanks in Catch Me If You Can (2002):
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What it's about: This is a true story about Frank Abagnale Jr., a kid who, before his 19th birthday, scammed his way to making millions by posing as a lawyer, doctor, and a pilot by forging checks.
Bottom line: Hanks goes past the point of no return with the dialect. Relying entirely way too much on what he thinks a Boston accent sounds like, it ends up feeling like a caricature.
13. Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness (2010):
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What it's about: A homicide detective discovers his activist daughter's darkest secrets after she dies.
Bottom line: It seems like Gibson's dialect coach handed him a copy of The Boston Accent For Dummies. Needless to say, it didn't help.
12. Diane Lane in The Perfect Storm (2000):
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What it's about: The crew of the swordfishing boat Andrea Gail gets caught in The Perfect Storm of 1991.
Bottom line: Even with a co-star who hails from Dorchester, Massachusetts, Lane failed to get the accent right. The really sad part about all of this is that Marky Mark stood by and let her pronunciation of "Bobby" happen.
11. Everyone in this scene from The Heat (2013):
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What it's about: Sarah Ashburn, an FBI agent, and Shannon Mullins, a detective, join forces to undermine a Boston mobster.
Bottom line: Combine everything you thought you knew about a Boston accent, and you get this.
10. Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003):
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What it's about: After a family tragedy, ex-con Jimmy Markum is forced to come face-to-face with his past and along the way he proves that he'll do whatever it takes to avenge those who've wronged him.
Bottom line: While this was an Oscar-winning performance for Penn (and with good reason), his accent is too harsh and by-the-book. Next.
9. Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips (2013):
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What it's about: Based on a true story of Captain Richard Phillips, a man from Winchester, Massachusetts, this movie chronicles the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged ship by Somalian pirates back in 2009.
Bottom Line: He tried, he really, really tried. And therein lies the issue: His effort is too noticeable, which makes his accent feel super inauthentic. That's strike two for you, Mr. Hanks.
8. Jack Nicholson in The Departed (2006):
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What it's about: After decades of leading the largest crime ring in South Boston, Frank Costello's reputation is threatened when the state police organizes itself to take him down.
Bottom line: Nicholson's accent isn't consistent enough to make it believable. He goes back and forth between literally sounding like he does in every other movie and a stereotypical Boston townie.
7. Johnny Depp in Blow (2001):
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What it's about: Based on a true story, Blow chronicles the life of George Jung, a drug dealer originally from Weymouth, Massachusetts, who began smuggling cocaine into the States in the 1970s.
Bottom line: Ohhh, Johnny Boy. Solid effort, but the fact that we're subjected to hearing you narrate throughout the entire movie with a subpar pronunciation of every word that ends in -er is overkill for our ears.
6. Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island (2010):
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What it's about: Teddy Daniels, a U.S. Marshal, is investigating the whereabouts of a murderer who recently escaped a mental hospital in Boston.
Bottom line: You can hear traces of the accent here and there, but like Jack Nicholson, there's no consistency.
5. Tim Robbins in Mystic River (2003):
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What it's about: Refer to number 9.
Bottom line: Robbins succeeds in making the accent a mere attribute rather than letting it overshadow his character. And it's not that hard to sound good when you're up against the accents of Laurence Fishburne and Kevin Bacon. #sorrynotsorry
4. Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010):
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What it's about: Boxer "Irish" Micky Ward from Lowell, Massachusetts, quickly rises to fame with the help of his half-brother Dicky, who also used to box. It is based on a true story.
Bottom line: Real solid job. For those of you who aren't familiar with New England folk, Dicky (Bale's character) is definitely an around-the-way guy that you could see at a bar swearing way too much and drinking a Sam Adams. Or a strawberry daiquiri, if that's what he'd be into.
3. Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone (2007):
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What it's about: A little girl goes missing in Boston and a private investigator, Patrick Kenzie, and his partner, Angie Gennaro, are assigned to look for her.
Bottom line: Ryan's character is pretty despicable: She's a drug-addicted, foul-mouthed criminal. Going off of previous actors who've played similar characters with terrible accents, Ryan could've followed suit, but she didn't. Ben Affleck, Mr. Boston himself, even asked her what part of Boston she was from during her audition. Get it, girl.
2. Jeremy Renner in The Town (2010):
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What it's about: When a heist goes sour for a Charlestown-based group of bank robbers, they must prepare themselves to face the law, which is something they always seemed to avoid.
Bottom line: Renner is already a jack of all trades: He's an actor, former hairstylist (yes, you read that correctly), and a singer-songwriter (yep, that too). And after this movie, he can add Boston accent extraordinaire to the list. "I'm gonna get it done" has probably never sounded this badass in film history.
1. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting (1997):
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What it's about: Will Hunting, a kid from South Boston, gets into trouble after assaulting an officer and, under court agreement, becomes the patient of therapist Sean Maguire. Maguire soon discovers that Hunting is an actual genius, and through the sessions Hunting is forced to reexamine his relationships and think about his future.
Bottom line: Very rarely do you see Robin Williams in anything where he's not slaying the role, and this is no exception. The mark of a good Bostonian accent is when the audience doesn't notice it. Instead, they're more drawn to and focused on the depth of the character. Nailed it.