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In July (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 27
Fresh: 24
Rotten:3
Average Rating: 7/10
Consensus: A charmingly fresh romantic comedy/road movie.
Theatrical Release:Dec 7, 2001 Limited
Synopsis: Ever since RUN LOLA RUN raced across the Atlantic and rang in a new era in German filmmaking, Teutonic comedy has ceased to be an oxymoron. A classic romance, IN JULY takes us from Hamburg,... Ever since RUN LOLA RUN raced across the Atlantic and rang in a new era in German filmmaking, Teutonic comedy has ceased to be an oxymoron. A classic romance, IN JULY takes us from Hamburg, Germany, crosses into Austria, continues from Hungary to Romania and finally to Istanbul, Turkey over the breathtaking course of 100 minutes. The film, directed by German-born Turk Fatih Akin, is a vibrantly photographed journey set against the decidedly multicultural backdrop of Central and Eastern Europe, in which unrequited love, a stolen passport and 5 different countries and languages play the leads. Daniel (Moritz Bleibtreu, Lola's wayward boyfriend in RUN LOLA RUN) is a young physics teacher in Hamburg who plays life by the rules. His students ridicule him, bartenders ignore him, and every night he walks home to a perfectly empty IKEA-furnished apartment. But his drab existence is about to change-he falls head over heels in love with a beautiful Turkish girl named Melek and spontaneously decides to follow her to Istanbul. On his way East, Daniel discovers a new self and learns to truly fight for his happiness, even as he gets high on drugs for the first time, gets beaten up, is seduced, robbed, and finally busted by Turkish borderguards. Daniel's wild odyssey is shared by Juli (the stunning Christiane Paul), a young woman hungry for life who predicts Daniel will soon find his one true love. But until then, the two must conquer Europe, by truck, car, bus, boat and foot and find out on the way that the laws of physics don't always apply. -- © 2001 Film Philos [More]
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Christiane Paul, Mehmet Kurtulus, Idil Uner
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Christiane Paul, Mehmet Kurtulus, Idil Uner, Jochen Nickel, Branka Katic, Birol Unel, Sandra Borgmann
Director: Fatih Akin
Director: Fatih Akin
Screenwriter: Fatih Akin
Producer: Stefan Schubert, Ralph Schwingel
Composer: Ulrich Kodjo Wendt
Studio: Films Philos
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Reviews for In July
Bleibtreu's almost too-innocent shy guy works, and his wider familiarity will help sell the adventure, but it's his co-star who gives us the emotional mileage of the drive.
None of this is the least bit believable, but all is told with a light touch and good humor and the characters are quirky enough that you can't help enjoying the ride.
We've been to this place many times before, folks: An overly fastidious, brainy male gets led through a series of zany adventures by a free-spirited female, and the moral of the story is to not live life so cautiously.
Explodes with hope and good will, paying tribute to Georges Méliès and the persistence of cinematic magic along the way.
The journey's the thing, and nearly every kilometer of it holds adventure, charm and laughter.
While it's true that this 2000 romantic comedy is basically a Teutonic riff on the 1985 John Cusack comedy The Sure Thing, In July still has just enough twists and turns and is just light enough on its feet to stand on its own.
[It has] such engaging characters [that] if Akin wasn't working overtime trying to get these kids together, viewers might get the urge to play matchmaker themselves.
If you're the sort who used to enjoy romantic comedies before they became doddering and formulaic chick flicks, take some steps and search this one out.
If you need to get away and all you have is nine bucks and two hours, you know where to go.
It never ceases to amaze me how much mileage there is left in the road trip and romantic comedy genres when they're blessed with a little creativity.
Instead of avoiding the genre's conventions, the effervescent German film revels in them, resulting in a picture so infectious it almost seems original.
Who would have thought a German comedy could be light, charming and devoid of intellectual snobbery?
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