Two questions, one to British viewers--how did Claire, Michelle, and other American actors if there are any, do with their accents? and two--I admit I was not paying close attention when Capt. Shakespeare came on the scene, but why was he the only person in the movie who sounded like a New Yorker? Did they let him get away with being lazy just because he's De Niro?? Michelle Pfeiffer and Claire Danes put the effort in. I've got to admit though, I loved his part!
shareTheir accents were ok, Danes' was better than Pfeiffer's. However, what they were doing was more of a generic middle-class accent, how Americans imagine we Brits speak. It's the kind of accent that is typically used by American actors when playing British characters(Renee Zelwegger in Bridget Jones' Diary springs to mind). The majority of people in the UK don't speak like that and there are many regional accents. I'd be more impressed if an American actor could pull off a Geordie, Scouse or Welsh accent. Maybe Johnny Depp could manage it. His Scottish and Cockney accents were pretty good, if somewhat caricatured.
As for De Niro's lack of British accent; my best guess would be that as he was a pirate it made him seem more exotic to not sound like everyone else in the film. In this sense the accents are a device used to inform the audience of character types, based upon preconceived stereotypes. Just Like how American audiences prefer villains to sound British.
The charachter of Captain Shakespeare is not suppose to be British. When they are in the closet Tristan says, but you're not from England, he says, no, I'm not from England.
shareYes, but the question is reasonable, as all of the other characters Tristran meets on the other side of the wall are not from England either. England is Wall for the purposes of this film, everyone else is from Stormhold.
sharePfiefer's was horrendous, and really clearly an American attempt, but laughably bad.
Daines's was actually pretty good, only waning a little here and there.