Highly Overrated But Still Good

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Blistering performances.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Faith Akin is one of the best and brightest directorial voices working in Europe today, and while this early film isn't quite as strong as his more recent masterpieces, it's still a sweet, funny and worthwhile love story. On the surface it's a very familiar romantic comedy plot – the misadventures of guy searching for girl he thinks he loves, while missing the fact that the perfect girl is right beside him. But it's so charming, with a fun, playful, inventive cinematic style, a great soundtrack, and terrific supporting characters that it's easy to forgive any clichés and a few moments of overacting. A film that will make you smile.

I love road movies. 'Diarios di Motocicleta,' 'Cheun Gwong Tsa Sit', 'My Own Private Idaho', and this one, IM JULI.The first Faith Akin-film I saw was his most-celebrated and most-awarded picture 'Gegen Die Wand'. I liked 'Gegen Die Wand' but I can't help saying that it was very depressing.IM JULI is good. It is fresh, sunny, lively, and with a lot of delightful moments.The story is very believable. Girl sees boy, boy sees girl, and though the girl has feelings for the boy, the boy is oblivious. So the girl devises a way to express her love for him. Problem is, the plan takes one real long route that sees the boy travelling from Germany, through Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, before ending up in Istanbul, Turkey. In the way he meets a few interesting and good-looking characters. And there is a very amazing soundtrack playing in the background to highlight our hero's adventures.The characters are very lovable, and the actors who play them even more lovable. Moritz Bleibtreu (of 'Lola Rennt') is the boy-next-door; Christiane Paul is the smart July who's in love with him and, quite unknowingly, makes him do a cross-country through eastern Europe; Mehmet Kurtulus as Isa, the mysterious stranger, has the most imposing presence of all; and there's also Birol Ünel (Cahit of 'Gegen Die Wand') as an eccentric character in an underground restaurant where our hero nearly succumbs to the charms of the sexy Luna (played by Branka Katic).Overall, IM JULI is a great film. I enjoyed every moment of it.

This was a sweet comedy that provided lots of entertainment with only a few wrong turns. First the wrong turns. I wasn't exactly thrilled by the notion that the overly controlled school teacher needed to loosen up by smoking some pot. Also, it seemed relatively easy to determine WHO the main character would fall in love with in the end of the film after only shortly after the movie began. HOWEVER, despite these minor problems, I really liked this film. The acting and pacing were excellent and although you had a strong idea where the movie would end, the actually journey there took a lot of surprising twists and turns. The end result is an excellent "chick flick" that will please both men and women alike.

Please, can someone at IMDb be more careful about which review gets displayed on the main details page of each film? It is simply not right to have to read someone's wrongfully deprecating comments just under the main details. Especially if the rest of the reviews are so obviously positive. Every film should be displayed with a comment that represents the opinion of the majority of viewers. If IMDb simply selects a random comment, a great film (like this) can be overlooked by someone who doesn't have the time to read the entire literature posted under "comments". As to this film, light, good-natured, new, original, funny, even if at times it finds refuge in the banal. Otherwise, a 9 out of ten.