I am not remotely Irish, so I am not the best authority on what makes a good brogue. I have a better idea on the bad ones, however, but I'll let you judge for yourself. So in honor of St. Patrick's Day, here's a shortlist of non-Irish actors doing brogues:
1. Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own (1997)
Brad Pitt moves into Harrison Ford's home, he brings the IRA with him and says things like "Ah need dat mohn-ee, Tohm."
2. Meryl Streep in Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)
As one of five women living together in rural Ireland in the 1930s, Meryl takes on the brogue and... oh, who are we kidding. This is Meryl Streep we're talking about.
3. Orson Welles in The Lady From Shanghai
Welles (American), plays a drifing Irish sailor whose fascination with Rita Hayworth leads him into a scheme on a pleasure cruise. Welles' accent was much maligned.
4. Cate Blanchett in Veronica Guerin
Playing the Irish journalist who was gunned down as she exposed drug lords and crime lords, the Australian Blanchett was commended not just for her performance but her credible Dublin accent.
5. Leonardo DiCaprio, Henry Thomas, and Cameron Diaz in Gangs of New York
I don't think I read much criticism of this trio's accents when the film came out, maybe because their characters have grown up mostly in the States. Still, I'm not sure Diaz, with her red ringlets and perpetual pout, really belongs in a period movie. She always looks like she's on a modeling shoot playing dress-up.
6. Chris O'Donnell, Circle of Friends
I don't know if I'm biased because at the time of the film's release, Chris O'Donnell was the bee's knees. But I found the accent (plus all the slang, with the "altogether" and "just about") enhanced rather than stumble his charm. As for Minnie Driver, making her film debut, I thought she actually was Irish.
7. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Far and Away
It's just like Australia, except instead of Hugh Jackman it's Nic's ex-husband Tom Cruise, and instead of World War II bombings you have stampeding horses. And a kickin' Enya song. With Kidman's fiery red hair she looks the part of an Irish lass, but someone must have passed Cruise a note that read: "Look, Sean Connery made a career without doing any accent but his own," because he hasn't done one since. Even a Transylvania one in that Interview with a Vampire movie.
Other notable (or notably bad) Irish accents, for which i couldn't find a video example:
Tommy Lee Jones in Blown Away
Julia Roberts in Michael Collins
Any others come to mind? --Ellen
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