Regarding "Daphne" - it is quite difficult for someone from London to do a good North West accent, and adding in her mid-Atlantic overtones makes it even harder. I suppose its no different to someone from Sydney doing South Australian or from Dallas doing Bostonian. I think that is why Meryl Streep did so well, she always sounded exactly right. Even Gwyneth Paltrow seems pretty good at sounding British (although I read somewhere that she hates the food here and longs to get back to the USA after her filming is over).

Do any British actors do good American accents - what about Michael Caine's most recent film - I heard that was meant to be quite good (I haven't seen it yet)?