I like to see gay characters in films, but filmmakers can't specifically rely on their gayness to make them interesting.
The Adventures of Felix (2001)
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Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:27
Rotten:12
Average Rating:6.3/10
Theatrical Release:Jun 15, 2001 Limited
Synopsis: Felix (Sami Bouajila) is an HIV-positive thirtysomething homosexual. In this film about family and the discovery of self, Felix is first seen jauntily riding his bike. When he gets laid off from... Felix (Sami Bouajila) is an HIV-positive thirtysomething homosexual. In this film about family and the discovery of self, Felix is first seen jauntily riding his bike. When he gets laid off from work and starts cleaning out his dead mother's house, Felix uncovers some old letters from his father, who he's never met. The discovery takes Felix on a hitchhiking journey to Marseilles to search for the family that he never had. On the way, he meets a number of quirky characters identified by intertitles that describe each one respectively as his little brother, his grandmother, his cousin, his sister, and finally his father; in what becomes his surrogate family. Felix kills time on the highway singing songs as he sashays through the emerald fuzz of the French countryside, waiting for a car to pick him up. He's at home in a field of buttercups, flying a kite, or crooning to the sun to come out and shine, and he never misses his favorite soap opera about a viciously superficial family that's out to get each other. In the end, directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau allow Felix to show us that the bonds within family are about much more than blood. [More]
Starring: Sami Bouajila, Ariane Ascaride, Pierre-Loup Rajot, Patachou
Starring: Sami Bouajila, Ariane Ascaride, Pierre-Loup Rajot, Patachou, Maurice Benichou
Director: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau
Director: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau
Screenwriter: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau
Producer: Philippe Martin
Studio: Winstar
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Reviews for The Adventures of Felix
The filmmakers should have made their hero's encounters more profound in order to make their thesis resonate.
It's one thing to never show gay life accurately on the big screen. It's another to be accurate but boring.
I can’t even begin to imagine what a crude American director would choose to do with it, and don’t want to.
...it does provide a charismatic telling of a young man's journey to find himself...
Bouajila's admirable performance and Ducastel and Martineau's witty script help make this Adventure worthwhile.
A film whose surface charm never gets in the way of its profound seriousness about living life to the fullest.
There is a sort of sun-washed gay complacency to Adventures of Felix, a streak of greeting card glibness.
A remarkably charming, laid-back, well-adjusted guy to find at the heart of any 21st-century comedy.
The tight structure is softened by the tremendous warmth and honesty with which the film is played.
While you may not guffaw long and loud, the film will get a laugh out of you at intervals and you're rarely without a smile.
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.
[Bouajila's] quietly forceful performance rises miles above the melodrama while somehow keeping the movie firmly on the ground.
delightful new road comedy by the equally delightful directors/lovers Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau.
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.
A thoroughly engaging road movie that's as affable and charming as its title character.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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