The Adventures of Felix (Drôle de Félix) (2000)

69% of critics liked it
(39 reviews)
49% of users liked it
(136 ratings)

A man considers the fine line between friendship and family as he crosses France by foot in this comedy. Felix (Sami Bouajila) is a cheerful thirty-something from Normandy who is part-Arab by birth and 100 percent French by inclination; Felix is also gay and HIV-positive, though the ups and downs of… More A man considers the fine line between friendship and family as he crosses France by foot in this comedy. Felix (Sami Bouajila) is a cheerful thirty-something from Normandy who is part-Arab by birth and 100 percent French by inclination; Felix is also gay and HIV-positive, though the ups and downs of the characters on his favorite soap opera trouble him more than his health, which he regards with a good-natured stoicism. Felix has never really known his father, who left his mother before Felix was born, and after he receives some old letters his dad wrote to his mother, Felix decides its time they talked before it's too late. Figuring his father's likely whereabouts in Marseilles from the letters, Felix packs up his knapsack and hits the road, planning on hiking cross country and meeting up with his boyfriend, Daniel (Pierre-Loup Rajot), in a couple of weeks. Along the way, Felix's open-hearted charm allows him to make several new friends, and before long he's bonded with a number of people he's embraced as a surrogate family: Mathilde (Patachou), an elderly woman with regrets about her life; Isabelle (Ariane Ascaride), a single mother who can't find a stable relationship; Daniel (Pierre-Loup Rajot), a teenager coming to terms with his sexuality; and a "cousin" (Philippe Garziano) interested in kites with whom Felix has a brief fling (while they practice safe sex, their al fresco encounter leads to a dreaded and painful malady -- poison ivy). As Felix moves onwards toward Marseilles, he and his new friends ponder the notion of family -- is it defined by blood, or by your heart and soul? Drôle de Félix was released in English-speaking territories under two different titles, Funny Felix and The Adventures of Felix. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Olivier Ducastel
Written By: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Jun 2, 2001 Wide
On DVD: Feb 19, 2002
Studio: Winstar Cinema

Critic Reviews

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Narratively, what we have here is a basic road movie, a genre that too often doubles as an excuse to hide a flawed script -- merely an episodic series of loose vignettes.
Tom Sime, Dallas Morning News
We realize early on that nothing much is going to happen ... and it's hard to stay fully engaged with a film that, frontal nudity notwithstanding, plays it so safe.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
It has a personable character in Felix.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Bouajila's winning performance, and the film's timely tolerance, make Felix a movie road trip you'll want to take.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
A delightful film.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
An odyssey of self-discovery of much charm, humor and admirable subtlety.
Brandon Judell, PopcornQ
delightful new road comedy by the equally delightful directors/lovers Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau.
Paul Malcolm, L.A. Weekly
It would all be too obviously feel-good if Ducastel and Martineau weren't also tuned in to the liberating drift of the open highway and a sharp native humor that adds needed flesh and blood to their walking metaphors.
Jason Clark, Matinee Magazine
I can't even begin to imagine what a crude American director would choose to do with it, and don't want to.
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
Although the movie never so much as flirts with melodrama, there is still a bittersweet undercurrent throughout Adventures of Felix.
Laura Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The greatest accomplishment of writer-directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau is that they can sustain subtle expressions of love, both physical and emotional... while also allowing these same characters to deal with the shortcomings of humanity.
David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune
There is a sort of sun-washed gay complacency to Adventures of Felix, a streak of greeting card glibness.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
I like to see gay characters in films, but filmmakers can't specifically rely on their gayness to make them interesting.