AllMovie

Directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau retain the light charms of their 1998 musical feature Jeanne and the Perfect Guy with this agreeably diverting, often very funny look at rediscovering family. Beautifully filmed in various locations in striking CinemaScope, Drole de Felix is not always successful in creating organic whimsy and, like any feature that is broken up into segments, some parts pay off more handsomely than others, but the film is unique enough to warrant memorability. Lead actor Sami Bouajila projects just the right amount of insouciant bravado and endearing spirit to carry the film, and these qualities are highly important for a movie where tone is very specific. The movie plays like a riff on Jacques Demy's more flamboyant efforts, though this feature has an additional political side, rendered with surprisingly subtlety considering that race and HIV play a large role in the main character's life. Overall, this is a worthy and effective piece of gay cinema that exposes viewers to genuine emotion rather than a barrage of flesh and fury.