French directing duo Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau proved that they could mine new gold out of old genres with their AIDS musical Jeanne and the Perfect Guy. Now, with Adventures of Felix, they put a new twist on a story line that is as old as Homer and come up with a film that is both an enjoyably accessible gay movie, and a sophisticated work of cinema art.

From its whimsical opening moments, with handsome French-Arab ferryman Felix riding his bicycle along the docks of Dieppe, to its final scenes of a touching reunion on another dock in Marseille, Ducastel and Martineau maintain an easy control over their film's pacing, tone, and style. With their deft directorial touch, each of Felix's deceptively ordinary characters makes an impression on the audience in a very unique way. And no one makes a bigger impression, on his fellow characters or the audience, than Felix himself. From the moment newly unemployed Felix puts on his backpack, kisses his handsome boyfriend goodbye, and heads off down the back roads of France in search of the father he never knew, people begin to take him into their hearts.

As Felix, Sami Bouajila gives a sweet, sexy performance that makes it easy to see why everyone who meets this happy-go-lucky wanderer wants to feed him, bed him, or drag him behind some bushes. Each of his fellow travelers needs something from Felix, each has something to give, and each has something to teach him. It isn't long before the charms of budding springtime, the beautiful French landscape, and his charming new "relatives" start to lure Felix down some diverting cul-de-sacs. Fortunately for us, Ducastel and Martineau give Felix all the time he needs to follow each detour wherever it leads him. Together, they turn their young hero's search for his father into a discovery of an extended "family" he never knew he had.

Felix may reach his goal in the end, or he may not. But one thing is certain, the audience will wish this Gallic Sullivan's Travels, which comes across like a queer collaboration between Preston Sturges and François Truffaut, would go on forever.