No I haven't seen the film. It seems that I miss too many German movies recently, and you guys have to remind me 
The reception in the German press was pretty close to the assumptions hengcs describes in his review. But overall it was very popular with critics and the audience alike. A fellow student was the first person who told me about the film last year when we were talking about good German films from this decade. She had seen it at the film festival in Hof (an important national film festival for the display of German films) and it was her favorite picture of 2006.
I'll try to watch it and tell you what I think in the future (I know I'm saying this about a lot of stuff).

Monica Bleibtreu is a well respected and very busy actress who has won some deserved recognition (e.g. in the form of awards) in recent years. And yes, arsaib is right, she is related to Moritz Bleibtreu. She's his mother. 

My opinion on the credibility of the German academy hasn't changed though.