With Drawl

“There are things you can get away with in this world, and things you can’t.” Matthew McConaughey’s voice is like that, so specifically seasoned by Texas you know it sight unseen. That’s the power of a drawl, the way it can wrap entire stories and an ocean of feelings in honeyed tones; the way it can fit a person, a character, like broken-in jeans.

I pay attention to the distinctions when movies try to tap into that homespun magic. I’m fitful when Southern accents are forced, angered when they’re false, and hold them close when, like McConaughey’s, they are true. While a bad accent makes people from the South cringe, the right inflection deepens and shades the story. It can transport you to a specific place and time and heightens the topography of the film. It changes the texture of the experience for everyone. The way a weeping guitar can heighten anguish by clinging to a note, a drawl conveys so much more than mere words ever could. There is an easy wit that sneaks up on you, the humor often carrying an unexpected bite buried inside all that down-home irony, insight, and cheek.

We love Southern movies, whether they're based in the South, filmed in the South, or about the South, but it's undeniable that the South and its people aren't always accurately portrayed. Watching native Californians or New Yorkers try to act Southern makes for an easy laugh, but some Southern stereotypes aren't necessarily true or humorous.  It's all too rare when we feel like Hollywood gets it right when it comes to depicting our beloved region, its people, and culture with any accuracy on the big screen. So, when they do finally nail it, we breathe a sigh of relief. It's all about authenticity.

Like our own mamas, Southern movies have some of the character one-liners, but actors who take it too far on the Southern drawl and end up in hillbilly territory. Even actors that said they worked with speech coaches and talked to locals where they were filming often don't hit the mark. We take pride in the way we speak, even if it is a little drawn out. No offense, but when it’s butchered all one can do is shake their heads and mutter, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

The years have only deepened my affection for the flavor of the Southern drawl, and their presence in movies can transport me back to my grandparent’s kitchen table eating country ham, buttered biscuits, and grits next to my Aunt Jean. Southern accents are an art form, and so, in an attempt to pay my respects, here are a few of my favorite - not a ranking but a range. On any given day, the one I love best depends on what place in my heart needs filling.

Holly Hunter in “Raising Arizona” (1987)

Tommy Lee Jones in “No Country for Old Men” (2007).

Billy Bob Thornton in “Sling Blade” (1996)

Morgan Freeman in “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989).

Woody Harrelson in “Natural Born Killers” (1994)

Dolly Parton in “Steel Magnolias” (1989).

Danny Glover in “Places in the Heart” (1984).

Octavia Spencer in “The Help” (2011)

Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the Line” (2005).

I thought about adding Tom Hanks, whom I loved in Forrest Gump, but then there was The Green Mile; “That’s all I got to say about that.” Finally, there is Sissy Spacek, Sally Field, Robert Duval, and Matthew McConaughey whose voices are like warm molasses on homemade vanilla ice cream — sweeter and richer than all the rest.  When it comes to perfecting the Southern drawl, they’re “alright, alright, alright.”