felix ( sami bouajila , " the siege " ) lives a contented life with his boyfriend daniel ( pierre - loup rajot ) in the little town of dieppe in northern france .
when he is laid off from his job , after discovering the address of the father who abandoned him before he was born , he decides to journey to marseilles , in the south , to find the man he never met in " the adventures of felix .
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writers / directors olivier ducastel and jacques martineau made their debut with the musical comedy " jeanne and the perfect guy , " embracing that typically american genre .
their second effort , " the adventures of felix , " once again borrows from america with a tale of a young man who hits the road to find himself .
felix is happy with his life in dieppe , but when the ferry company he works for falls prey to the economics of the chunnel , he is out of a job and at loose ends .
when he goes through his late mother 's papers he learns that the father he never knew is living in marseilles , hundreds of miles away .
felix makes the snap decision to journey to the south , puts together a supply of " cocktails " for his hiv virus , kisses daniel goodbye and heads off on foot .
he refuses to use trains and wants to avoid big cities as he hitchhikes across france to find his destiny .
along the way , a series of chance encounters with various strangers teaches felix that family is not always made up of blood relations .
on the road , he witnesses a race - related mugging that turns into murder and , frightened for his own safety , runs away without telling the police .
following this harrowing experience , he has his first chance meeting that begins the unconscious construction of his ideal family .
his journey brings him to rouen , and the film 's first title section , " my little brother , " where he meets jules , a young art student who becomes smitten with felix .
they steal a car and develop a chaste , brotherly affection before felix must move on .
he next meets elderly mathilde ( patachou ) , in the chapter titled " my grandmother , " and soon learns that she , too , has a fondness for the same tv soap opera that felix has grown addicted to .
she wants him to stay with her , but he must continue on his way to find his father .
in the weakest chapter of felix 's road trip , titled " my cousin , " he meets a railroad worker ( philippe garziano ) and has a brief sexual encounter before heading off , once again , toward marseilles .
he next helps a stranded lady motorist , isabelle ( ariane ascaride ) , and shags a ride with her and her three kids ( each with a different daddy ) in the sequence titled " my sister .
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he is torn by the inner turmoil of not going to the police about the murder he witnessed and isabelle comforts him just as a sister would .
on the final leg of the journey titled " my father , " he meets an older man , a fisherman ( maurice benichou ) , who enlightens him about the real facts of life and family while they fly felix 's kite , just like a father and son .
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the adventures of felix " has a number of things going for it as we follow felix on his journey of discovery .
first and foremost is the charming performance by sami bouajila as felix .
he is a likable guy , fighting his hiv with his doses of " cocktails , " and lights up the screen as he makes the long walk , often with dance and song , to find his father and himself .
as he encounters each member of his new family , promising each that he will send a postcard when he arrives at his final destination , he grows a little bit more spiritually and emotionally .
bouajila does a terrific job holding center stage on the screen .
the cast of characters making up felix 's new - found family are nearly as charming as the star , each in their own way . patachou , especially , is wonderful as the grandma character and a kindred spirit to felix .
ariane ascaride , along with her kids , gives a perf that really makes you think of her as the sister that the young man never had .
only the " cousin " chapter lacks the emotional depth of the rest and feels like a perfunctory addition to felix 's " family .
" " the adventures of felix " does not reinvent the road movie , but it does provide a charismatic telling of a young man 's journey to find himself and , to his surprise , his discovery is dramatically different than he expected at the beginning .
it helps that cinematographer matthieu poirot - delpech 's crisp lensing compliments the story perfectly as felix moves across the french countryside .
i give it a b+ .
are nearly as charming as the star has a number of things going for it does a terrific job holding center stage does provide a charismatic telling the charming performance especially , is wonderful crisp lensing compliments the story perfectly