Judi Dench plays M in Funny or Die video

NEW YORK, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- British actress Judi Dench appears as her James Bond franchise character in a Funny or Die video mocking the decision to give her film "Philomena" an R rating.

Dench's iconic character M, head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, was killed off in the most recent Bond adventure "Skyfall."

However, she appears in a satirical online video clip and is seen dispatching "Philomena" co-star Steve Coogan, whom she calls Agent 002, to Los Angeles to convince the Motion Picture Association of America to lift the restrictive R rating it gave the film because it contains two profanities. The MPAA automatically rates films R if they have more than one expletive.

The Funny or Die clip can be seen at http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/bd4c7e587d/m-essage-to-the-m-paa-with-judi-dench-and-steve-coogan.

The Weinstein Co. has said it is filing a formal appeal regarding the MPAA's decision to hand their awards contender an R rating.

Based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee," the film is about the mother of a boy conceived out of wedlock -- something of which her Irish-Catholic community disapproved -- and given away for adoption in the United States. She was forced to sign a contract that wouldn't allow any inquiry into her son's whereabouts, but when she meets Sixsmith years later, she decides to try to find her long-lost child.