Controversial German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin (“The Edge of Heaven” & “Head-On”) re-teams with actor turned screen-writer Adam Bousdoukos for this fun little feature which won Special Jury Prize and Young Cinema Award at the 66th Venice International Film Festival.

Zinos Kazantsakis (Adam Bousdoukos), forced to chose between the run-down restaurant he owns in Hamburg’s industrial district and his long-term girlfriend who is flying off to Shanghai, makes the mistake of signing over his business to his convict brother Illias (Moritz Bleibtreu).

Long-term director’s favourite Adam Bousdoukos (“Kebab Connection” & “Head-On”) proves a strong presence as he steps up into the big leagues in a role he helped write and manages to hold together the film’s meandering narrative in both capacities.

Fellow Akin-alumni Birol Ünel and Moritz Bleibtreu head up an ecclectic supporting cast which includes Pheline Roggan, Lukas Gregorowicz, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Dorka Gryllus, new-comer Anna Bederke and veterans Ugur Yücel and Udo Kier.

The accomplished filmmaker employs all the standard clichés in this run-of-the-mill movie that is lifted to a whole new level by a diverse and talented cast and crew who put their passion for filmmaking onto the screen in a way that harkens back to the fun of “Im Juli.”

“You sell everything you can sell, don’t you? Love, sex, soul….”