The veteran British actress plays a Holocaust survivor who battles the Austrian government for the return of an iconic family picture which was stolen by the Nazis, but the movie failed to wow critics when it debuted at Germany's Berlinale in February (15) and was branded "lifeless" and "dull".

However, Mirren is adamant the film was not ready to be reviewed, telling the Press Association, "It was a mistake rushing it to Berlin before the editing was finished. We paid the price, which I regret. It's an interesting story about a very powerful subject. I want it to do well because I didn't like to let (real life subject) Maria (Altmann) down."