That's so hilarious that we have both had the same sort of problem this week. What are the odds?

I resisted getting a DVD player for the longest time and finally had my hand forced when Blockbuster (our only rental option at the time) all but stopped carrying any current titles in VHS. But once we made the switch, we've found (as you have) that the ability to turn on subtitles is a godsend, and for much the same reasons as yours.

My problem isn't the accents, which I quite enjoy, but my own lovely bride sometimes has trouble. Where I find the subtitling helpful is when I get up early or stay up late and want to keep the volume down so as not to disturb my wife.

An added bonus is the fact that background sounds that I wouldn't normally be able to make out are often subtitled—a radio or TV playing in the background, faint voices in the distance—and are sometimes significant to the plot.

And then, just for laughs, there was the time I was hanging with the guys and we watched the South Park movie with the French soundtrack turned on, and English subtitles. Incredibly, we were stone cold sober.