THE ADVENTURES OF FELIX A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2001 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **
THE ADVENTURES OF FELIX (DRÔLE DE FÉLIX), jointly written and directed by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, is a gay romance and road trip that never amounts to much of anything. Although handsomely filmed by Matthieu Poirot-Delpech, the picture is about as memorable as a nondescript television soap opera, which is something that the lead character, Félix (Sami Bouajila, THE SIEGE), dotes upon. Much of Félix's life consists of popping pills (he's HIV positive, something the film doesn't dwell on), guzzling bottled water and watching his favorite morning soap opera. He seems to like his life, but it doesn't make for a particularly compelling narrative.
As Félix travels across France, the story is broken into chapters labeled with the nicknames ("My Little Brother," "My Grandmother" and "My Sister") that he gives to the strangers that he meets. Although Felix has a live-in boyfriend, he sleeps with some of the strange men that he meets along the way. He's not above a casual life of crime either, as, on a lark, he steals a car. Oops, the car has a baby in it. Better return the baby -- but not the car -- to the baby's screaming mother.
If there is an audience for this slice-of-life story, it might be as an erotic tale for gay men. Félix is a handsome guy, and there is a lot of open mouth kissing and passionate embraces shown in the movie.
Personally, I found only one section cute. When Félix hitches a ride with a stranger whom he dubs "my sister," Isabelle (Ariane Ascaride), he gets in a humorous argument with one of her three children. Each of her three children came from a different father, men whom she met in her travels. She also has a live-in boyfriend. The argument with the child is over what to call his "four dads." As the boy sees it, the live-in boyfriend is his father, but Félix argues that this man is the only one who is in no way his father. Félix tries to argue that the boy has one real father, two step-fathers, and one non-father, the live-in boyfriend. It's a wacky moment that recalls Abbott and Costello's famous "Who is on first?" routine. But even this incident will be forgotten by tomorrow morning. I've already forgotten the rest of movie, and I just saw it an hour ago. Thank God for notes.
THE ADVENTURES OF FELIX runs 1:35. The film is in French with English subtitles. It is not rated but might be an R for language, sexuality, violence and nudity and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, August 10, 2001. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.
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