Im Juli has a lot of promise. The opening scene is rather stunning to look at, and whether the opening solar eclipse was actual or not, it looked beautiful. The harsh, desert orange against the blue clear skies shows some good composition, and immediately you’re offered a red herring.

Not to say this film is a thriller, or murder mystery; because it isn’t. The film follows the exploits of Daniel (Moritz Bleibtreu) and Juli (Christiane Paul) as they journey to find Melek (Idil Uner), the woman that Daniel believes he’s destined to be with.

Juli has fallen for this wanton, fumbling Physics teacher, simply by his walking by. She decides to create a plan that would ensure that he believes her to be the love for him. Unfortunately, Melek comes along unexpected from Turkey, sporting the sign Juli mentioned he should wait for. It’s a case of a mix up, and Juli’s plans go sour. Daniel falls in love with Melek, and decides to chase her to Istanbul.

So begins the adventure of Daniel and Juli, as she tries her best to make him fall in love with her, while assisting him in finding Malek. Im Juli is a road movie with a soft centre. It’s sugary sweet, innocent, and very much a romantic film at heart.

The film works really well for the first half, as there are more than jut the two core characters on screen. I thought the character playing the weed smoker was actually quite funny, even if he was momentary. Things don’t work out the way Juli wants and then by sheer destiny, they meet up again and find they’re going the same way; all along Daniel is oblivious to Juli’s advances.

Im Juli takes place over different parts of Europe; from Germany, to Romania, and finally Turkey as well as everything in-between. The journey is horrendous, as the two become separated. There is robbery, a street chase and a car chase all within a few stretches of each other; but all done with that sickly sweet feel that you know everything will turn out fine.

Bleibtreu & Paul give a solid enough performance, and there’s definitely a conviction about the chemistry between them; I did feel that Paul was the better of the two. It is over emphasised at points, and there is a whole series of moments where you want to cringe (the ending particularly), but it’s an enjoyable love-hate relationship between the two.

The director has managed to take some interesting turns; particularly with the use of drugs. The drug experiences are done in a fairly interesting manner, in which the characters are still themselves, but what they do is hallucinogenic to the viewer. It’s nicely handled, as is the way Bleibtreu is with the joint and the whole initial reluctance, but then a coy attraction to it.

There’s also a good turn by Branka Katic as Luna; a psychotic but good looking nonetheless. I don’t know if I just fancied the pants off her, or was amused by her heavily camped up sultry/psycho routine. Idil Uner (Melek) is also good, but she’s hardly in the film; she seems capable of singing though, as she has as stint during one scene, and played the part of the disappearing love well enough. She was also quite attractive. But that’s not relevant.

My Sassy Girl is perhaps the best example I can think of where they’ve managed to perfect the idea of love and comedy together to such a point that it’s set a new benchmark. I often compare such films to My Sassy Girl, and often they fail to match up to even half of what it is. Im Juli still doesn’t achieve anything that most generic road movies/romantic comedies do. The characters happen to be German, there are a few ethnic characters and personalities, but it’s all been done before. It’s a fun ride, and a fun film, but it’s high on smoochy moments; I don’t do smoochy.

Still, it’s better than most American romantic comedies I’ve seen, and certainly better than the pretentious crap Britain keep churning out with Hugh bloody Grant and his bumbling idiot routine, which he carries in every fucking movie. Yes, I remember Extreme Measures, directed by his then girlfriend Liz Hurley; she should stick to looking pretty, and Grant should try to learn to act. In that sense, Im Juli manages to achieve a lot. It’s a very enjoyable, very fun romantic comedy, which falters sometimes by being over zealous. The characters are likable, the scenery surrounding them gorgeous to view, and some fairly amusing scenarios in which they find themselves.

Verdict: Fun and imaginative romantic comedy